Up From The Shadows
by Tobmaster
Summary: Naruto went to bring back Sasuke during training with Jiraiya and manages to succeed but it costs him, his life? Find out whan happened when an unknown person searches for his lost memories and maybe even love. Action in later chapters. NaruHina
1. Chapter 1

Before reading, I would like to say that it has been enjoyable writing these stories, but I am no longer active in writing in any shape or form, nor am I on this site anymore. This story was one of my first attempts at writing, so there will be missing depth at times and parts where things should have been handled differently, but all in all it turns out decently for what it is.

All my stories were written in 2007, so there are things we know now that we didn't back then

Also I do not read review posts anymore, so don't expect any replies

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This story is rated M due to sexual content later in the story (about chapter 12 is when it starts).

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Up From the Shadows

Chapter 1

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Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed in said works.

FYI: Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious, the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

Like all my stories, this takes place close to the end of the training mission with Jiraiya (I do this because they are older and I hate just redoing the early missions like so many other stories, all of mine are created by me and me alone so it is a 100 percent original storyline)

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(Somewhere outside Konoha) June 15 – 015 AK:

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"Sasuke, I have a plan to bring you back this time, you're coming home today." Announced the orange wearing ninja.

"I doubt it looser. You couldn't do it years ago, what makes you sure you can to it now? You're still worthless. You're too slow and I still haven't even activated my Sharingan yet. This battle has been a joke." Sasuke smirked when he saw his ex-teammate's reaction.

"Sharingan or not, I will bring you back one way or another." Naruto charges forward but quickly halts when Sasuke grabs his wrist and forces chakra creating the crackling chirps of his assassination technique. Naruto quickly crated a blue sphere in his right hand. "Chidori!" "Rasengan!" Naruto's hastily created jutsu was easily defeated by the fully created lightning jutsu. Sasuke pushed the blonde's hand outward as he thrust his hand directly into Naruto's chest cavity causing immense pain forcing him to the ground. Just like the time at the valley of the end, the fox container grabbed for his prisoner's chakra and pulled out… absolutely nothing. 'God damn Fox! Where the hell are you?' he shouted inward getting only silence in return as he fell to his back. Sasuke stood above him with a large grin on his face looking at his bloody hand in amusement.

"Please, Sasuke… Don't forget Konoha, they will help you. Just go back there and repair your relations with them" Croaked out the pained voice of the fallen leaf nin.

"Save it for the other side moron." Sasuke unsheathed his sword and stuck it straight through his old teammate's heart killing him instantly. "No coming back from that one dobe." Sasuke was elated, he killed his friend, but didn't feel any different; no power came to him as it should have. Sasuke was starting to get pissed until his evil sensei came out to meet him.

"Good, Sasuke-kun, you've done a wonderful job killing your friend. I bet your dying to feel your increase in strength." Orochimaru cackled in a voice that makes little boys everywhere cringe and hide.

"I don't understand, I should feel some sort of power right?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry Sasuke-kun, I forgot to mention you needed to feel remorse for it to work, let me help you." Orochimaru released the curse seal from Sasuke; with it all the suppressed emotions came forward revealing the true Sasuke not under the influence of the seal. Sasuke stared at his hands covered in blood and then turned his head to look at the sword sticking out of his friends body.

"What the hell have I done? The only person willing to be my friend when I was an ass just died by my hand. How could this have happened? If I really wanted him dead I wouldn't have saved his sorry ass in wave." Sasuke was battling with his new found sorrow but kept his face emotion less. "Alright snake bastard, why did you do this to me?"

"Oh but Sasuke-kun, you know why, you're showing it to me right now; the mangekou, my mangekou." Before Sasuke could react Kabuto jumped into view performing a paralyzing jutsu as Orochimaru prepared his body change jutsu since he needed to transfer quickly before the Uchiha figured out how to use it. Sasuke tried and tried to break free but it was all pointless since he was completely paralyzed except for his eyes. Then his genius nature struck, his eyes could still move. Focusing on Kabuto's eyes, which were barely in his peripheral, he made a weak illusion causing him to flinch breaking the paralysis. The snake sannin wasn't paying attention to the happenings around him, he only eyed the prize. Right as the jutsu was cast, Sasuke used kawarmi and managed to switch himself with Kabuto causing Orochimaru to transfer into the glasses wearing traitor.

"No one steals my body prick." Sasuke spat on the weakened form of Kabuto/Orochimaru.

"Damn you brat where are you, you better not be dead or I'll kill you myself." Shouted an irate white haired toad summoner, known as Jiraiya of the legendary three, as he landed in the battlefield. With out looking he slit Kabuto/Orochimaru's throat sapping the life from the fallen body. Jiraiya saw Sasuke sitting on the ground staring at his hands in front of the two dead sound nins. "Hey traitor, you coming? We're getting out of here when the shrimp wakes up, or would you rather me drag you to Konoha."

"I'll come willingly, that was his last wish." Jiraiya looked at him strangely until he saw Sasuke's eyes not look at his but past him. He turned around and saw what he missed when he arrived; lying on the ground was an orange and red mess with a sword still sticking out from his heart. "I was still under Orochimaru's curse and I had no idea I was killing one of my only friends until he released the seal. I want to go to Konoha, hopefully I'll be executed when I arrive."

Sasuke stood and started walking toward the village while Jiraiya was forced to clean up the mess and burn the traitor's bodies; he would have burned his student's but he believed some people in the village would want to say goodbye in their own way. Jiraiya summoned a smaller toad to retrieve the personal effects they left behind and bring the items to the Hokage while he wrapped a cloth around his student and carried him to Konoha.

(If you are thinking of leaving due to Naruto dying, please don't because there is much more here than that. Look underneath the underneath...)

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(Konoha) June 16 – 015 AK – Midmorning

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A team of Anbu was seen dashing to the eastern gate of Konoha after getting word of Jiraiya's return; (the toad moves fast) arriving shortly after Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, and her apprentice Haruno Sakura, made it to the same location. Strangely enough the Hokage wasn't the first leaf ninja waiting at the gate. If you were to look closely, behind the nearest tree, you could find a pale eyed girl on her daily stop waiting to maybe catch a glimpse of her blonde crush if he were to return at that time.

Five minutes passed before the gates opened revealing the white haired sannin, holding an orange bundle, and a dark haired young man walking towards the open gate. Sakura started to smile as her eyes never left the visage of the dark haired man while Hinata felt a hollow sickness swelling inside seeing the orange object being carried and not walking. When the travelers got within the gates Sakura ran to the Uchiha.

"Sasuke-kun!" she screamed grabbing him into a warm hug still smiling.

"Hi Sakura." Sasuke replied in a dry tone trying to be slightly nice but also not to be overly nice.

While Sakura ran to her crush Tsunade was studying Jiraiya and the bundle he carried. She remained emotionless and still when she realized there was no life in the body he carried. Tsunade snapped out of her daze when she heard a voice behind her.

"Naruto-Kun!" Hinata screamed as she bolted towards them with tears pouring from her eyes only to be grabbed by the Hokage in a caring hug.

"I can't let you see him like this Hinata; you won't be able to forget that image if you do" Tsunade held the sobbing Hyuuga tightly trying to keep her from going anywhere.

Hinata's screaming brought Sakura's attention away from her Sasuke and back to the real world and finally noticed the orange and red mass in the sannin's arms. "Sensei, is he really?"

"Are you really my apprentice? Do you think Hinata would be crying like this he wasn't?" Tsunade voiced being quite angry at her apprentice in her moment of idiocy and uncaring for her teammate.

"Um… Jiraiya-sama, w-what happened to h-him?" Hinata asked while trying to stop herself from crying.

"The idiot died giving me the ultimate version of my Sharingan; at least he did something right for a change. At least with me killing him I was able to defeat Orochimaru single handedly and I would have killed Kabuto as well if it wasn't for the white haired oaf cutting in." Sasuke explained while smirking. Although he killed Naruto, he found focusing on his destroying of major traitors could get him to feel a bit better about himself. He was an Uchiha, he could handle deaths with a stone heart, right?

Hinata lost her timid nature as she eyed Sasuke "You killed him?" she asked with a quiet voice.

"Yeah, I killed those powerful ninja that couldn't be defeated by either Hokage."

"YOU, killed HIM!?" Hinata asked again in a much louder voice shocking most people that knew her. "You killed MY Naruto-kun?" she raged as Sasuke just smirked again.

"Oh you're that girl, the one with that silly crush on the idiot, Hinata wasn't it? Yeah it was by my hand that he died. He seemed happy to die just with the hope of getting me to return to keep a promise he made to the one really he cared for, and it definitely wasn't you."

Something in Hinata snapped sending forth something no one ever thought existed in a person, let alone this shy girl "You dumb worthless snake loving piece of SHIT! I did not have a crush on him!"

"Then you'll find it easier to get over him then, good. He was never good enough to have your attention…" retorted Sasuke before he was cut off by Hinata as she spoke quietly at first.

"He was everything I wasn't, he was my inspiration when I was brought down and just thinking of him kept me going. He was like the light in my darkness giving me strength to persevere. When he was just 12, he was easily twice the man you will ever become, but most of all, he was the love of my life, the only one I felt was worthy of my love. When he was alive I was too timid and shy to tell him, but now I can never tell him because you killed him you murderer!" Hinata, in her rage, charged at Sasuke breaking away from Tsunade's grasp with her palm visibly glowing with immense amounts of chakra. Her speed alone took the Uchiha by surprise leaving him open to her supercharged Jyuken strike aiming for an instant kill. Just mere feet away from connecting the Hokage appeared between the two with her own fist glowing. The two chakra powered attacks contacted each other to cancel each other out but ended up leaving Tsunade's arm fall limp at her side due to the effects of the Hyuuga technique.

"Hinata, I can't allow you to kill anyone in that manner inside our village. If it was allowed, you would have needed to beat me to it." Tsunade reached forward and tapped Hinata on the forehead forcing her into a deep sleep. Tsunade caught her safely in her arms before she hit the ground. "Sakura, take Hinata home, I think she needs some time alone. The rest of you follow me, we're going to have some quality time with Ibiki.

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(Somewhere between Fire and Stone Country) June 16 – 015 AK - Midday

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A small caravan of travelers were heading towards Iwakagure after visiting a nearby village. During their journey they came across a pale looking person lying at the side of the trail.

"Father…"

"Yes Santen what is it?"

"There is someone lying on the edge of the road ahead. He looks bad, I don't think he has eaten in a month, we should help." Replied the young man of about 15 or 16.

"Tsuchikage-sama, we really shouldn't take any chances, he could be an assassin just waiting for his time to strike. We should eliminate this potential threat immediately." Voiced the guard as he pulled out a katana and ran ahead of the caravan going for his kill.

"STOP!" commanded the elder man

"Tsuchikage-sama?"

"Leave him be can't you tell he has very little chakra capacity? There is no way this person could be a threat, he should barely even be able to live a day without food. Tangrei," he called to his guard, "We will take him with us to the village hospital there we maybe able to tell if a new jutsu exists that caused his extremely low chakra capacity."

Tangrei was irritated that a potential threat would be brought with them, but you don't disobey a Kage. Reluctantly he picked up the unconscious form of the stranger and brought him to the carriage to bring him back to the village.

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( Konoha – Hokage's office) June 17 – 015 AK - Midday

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Tsunade was looking out her office window staring at the faces of the previous Hokages 'damn brat, your face should have joined mine up there next, I will stay in the village to keep your friends safe like you would have; if it wasn't for your friends I would have left already' she was snapped out of her thoughts by one of her Anbu.

"Hokage-sama, everyone is here that you have requested."

"Very well, send them in." what was left of the original leaf genins and their senseis filed into the office including Iruka and Konohamaru's group, surprisingly even Kakashi managed to arrive on time. "I'm sure you all know the reason why I have asked you here… We need to arrange a service for him."

"But sensei, aren't those preparations arranged by the council? All ninja killed in the line of duty gets a hero's service and name inscribed on the monument stone right?" inquired Sakura.

"Usually that is correct, but the council has refused to acknowledge his existence as a ninja." Replied the busty blonde.

"B-but why?" Hinata asked with her always present tears running down her face.

"He has been shunned by most of the village and has been hated by most due to his secret that was kept from everyone his age and younger by order of the Sandaime. If anyone was to speak of this information could be tried for treason and executed. Since he is gone there is nothing to protect so they do what they please."

"W-what could be so b-bad that N-Naruto-kun deserved that, he should be recognized by the village."

"It was never about what he did, but what was done to him." The whole group stared at the lazy chuunin after his statement. "I've been working on a theory since the chuunin exams. He displayed more strength than he has shown before and should not have been able to do many of those things. From all of my calculations, Neji should have been able to beat all opponents but he lost to him even after getting all his chakra blocked off. There is only one logical explanation and that is he had another source of chakra. Once I came upon that I figured that the only way to achieve a second chakra source was by sealing something within him. That is as far as I've been able to get. I don't know what was sealed in him granting him that power." Tsunade was shocked along with the rest of the older generation. They knew he was smart, but this proved he was a genius.

"It looked like a fox." The crowd turned their attention to Neji and stared at him waiting for him to explain. "When he called forth that power I saw the form of a fox head residing within his chakra therefore it was a fox sealed in him."

"A fox? That doesn't make any sense?" complained Tenten.

"It m-makes complete sense. All the looks he got and all those things said about him. They all make sense."

"How does it make sense? How do you know Hinata?" asked Kiba.

"I er, well it's not like I followed him or anything." Most in attendance looked at her like she was crazy. "I-I think he held Kyuubi." Now they really thought she was insane.

"But the Kyuubi was killed by the Yondaime right Iruka-sensei?" asked the pink haired know it all.

"Did the books ever say he killed it or just defeated it?"

"So Naruto was the kyubi?" asked Ino being the blonde she is.

"Damn it Ino! That is why he was hated by the village because they thought as stupidly as you. Naruto-kun kept the demon away from the village by containing him. He couldn't be a demon with how kind his blue eyes were. It was probably because of that whole reasoning that he never shared that with us." Hinata felt everyone staring at her again and tried to hide herself again.

'How much did this girl care for him, she never even flinched hearing about the demon. I'd definitely take the odds that she loved him, and not just a normal love, she may have been the only one perfectly suited to him' Tsunade contemplated this but needed to hurry to get things done. "You are right with everything Hinata, the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed into Naruto by the Yondaime Hokage, but we still don't know why he specifically chose Naruto since there were three other children that could have taken that burden. Although I'd love to keep talking like this, we still have to plan a funeral." Everyone's attitudes changed again having to face that fact and Hinata had to struggle to hold back her emotions from getting out of control.

"We will have the service for Naruto at 3pm by the memorial stone. Unfortunately we can't place his name on the stone, but that doesn't stop us from making our own. Since the memorial stone is protected by a jutsu, the other one I have would be protected as well. Afterwards we will have the burning of his body, but I suggest no one stay for that since it may cause too much pain."

"No, "squeaked an almost inaudible voice coming from the direction of the heiress.

"Did you say something Hinata?" asked Tsunade.

"Um well I… yes," she replied while nervously looking at her feet. "He shouldn't have his body burned."

"What do you mean by that? All ninja are burned, it is the most honorable since we don't have the room for cemeteries in a ninja village are you saying he shouldn't be honored?" Was Kurenai's reaction.

"No, I know of a way to give him even more honor than that."

"And how is that Hinata, I know you cared for him, but what could you do that we can't?" questioned the Hokage.

"Well he… he could um… be treated the way I wanted him to be. It is very embarrassing for me to suggest, but I want him to be placed in the Hyuuga tomb as if he was um… like you know."

"No I don't follow you there." Said Tsunade. She wasn't trying to be mean, she just needed her to openly confess what she wanted so she could start the healing process. Of course Hinata was bright red and stuttering in embarrassment but she refused to clam up and run away.

"I-I w-wasn't able t-to tell h-him how much I cared for him, but I can't deny him being treated with love the way he should always have been. He should be treated as the husband of a Hyuuga heiress, that is what my wish is, but I'll have to sneak his body into the tomb after everyone is asleep since father definitely won't approve."

"I'm sorry Hinata-sama, but I can allow you to sneak his body into the tomb," Hinata was about to go off on his smirking ass before he added, "you'll need my help with that." Hinata managed a small smile after that small suggestion.

"Fine Hinata, you can have your wish, I won't stop you, just be careful, we don't want you to get caught. Furthermore, we will need something to burn in his place to make it appear to anyone snooping around that he was burned."

"I'll take care of that." Kakashi announced still keeping his face as emotionless as possible.

"Alright, the last thing we have to take care of is a journal Naruto kept since he was 5." Tsunade smiled to herself seeing a look on Hinata that screamed 'gimme' "He stated in the journal that if he was to die, it was to go to the person that cared for him the most; this is yours… Hinata." Hinata felt bittersweet when she got the book, she was now going to see his inner self, but he wasn't around anymore either. "You all can go now until tomorrow." The entire room quickly evacuated leaving only Jiraiya and Tsunade in the office.

"How could he do this Jiraiya? He was so close to getting everything he wanted, but he threw it all away for a stupid promise. As far as I'm concerned, I don't ever want to see that necklace of his again."

"Actually I never found the necklace, it's gone"

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, it saves me the time." Jiraiya noticed Tsunade could use some time alone and quickly disappeared.

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(Iwa Hospital) June 18 – 015 AK - Midday

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"Ah, my head…" groaned a patient stuck in a sterile smelling white walled room. 'Damn, I hate hospitals' he thought before deciding to get someone's attention "Hello? Anyone here? Where the hell am I?"

"Ah I see you're awake." The patient looked to the voice and saw a decent looking female of about 16yrs old. She was dressed in maroon scrubs with her black hair tied into a ponytail but some of those details went unnoticed by the patient.

"And who are you?" he asked.

"I'll ask you the same question; you can just call me Doc."

"Ok doc, you can call me… um… I guess it is Rantou." He told her while still having a thinking look on his face.

"Do you have a family name or is it just Rantou?"

"I… don't know."

"How about where you're from?"

"Ok, well I'm from… shit I don't know. I can't remember any thing but my name and some other weird stuff."

"So then what is this other stuff then?" Doc asked with curiosity.

"Well it's something to do with fighting, like something called jutsus."

"Really? Jutsus are ninja techniques, if you have knowledge of them you might be a ninja. That would explain why you have a headband, but the plate is completely blank."

"Ok, cool I guess. Since there isn't a mirror nearby, can you try to describe what I look like."

"I guess I can try" Doc was surprised, usually people with amnesia know what they look like, but apparently he doesn't. "Well your hair is a lifeless tan, your eyes look grey, almost silver. Your face is quite handsome, I'm sure you had quite the following by the ladies where ever you were from. Are you sure you don't have a girlfriend?" she asked with a sly smile

"I wish I knew the answer to that, but I can't remember anything." His face looked downward clearly saddened at not remembering. "This sucks… do you think you could hand me that white pillow over there I'm a bit uncomfortable." Doc looked at him strangely.

"You mean this light blue one?" she asked

"No, that white one, the one I'm pointing to." Doc looked at him again and got an idea.

"Oh no problem… just one thing, what color is my shirt?" Rantou looked at her strangely, I mean who would know what color their shirt was.

"Um sure I guess… It's grey." He noticed her face changed and he knew something else was up. "It is grey right?"

"Actually no, it's maroon"

"What!? Are you telling me that not only can I not remember who I am, but I can't see color either!? Damn this all to hell!"

"Please calm down Rantou, screaming wont help you any. At least we have yet another thing to go on, not many people can see only black and white. Try to get a little more sleep, and I'll bring you some food later." Doc left the room after dimming the lights a bit so he could sleep. Rantou thought for a while, but with an empty mind he got bored quickly and fell off into a dreamless sleep.

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...Later


	2. Chapter 2

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious that 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

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(Konoha) June 18 – 015 AK Mid-afternoon

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The village seemed to be in unusually high spirits after the announcement that a certain person has died, and their praised Uchiha had returned. Everyone around seemed to be happy and the town was bustling, but it wasn't so cheery in a certain area.

Everyone that was touched by the blonde haired hyperactive ninja was there for the funeral of Uzumaki Naruto. Garra and his sibs, the Konohamaru Corps (look guys I didn't forget him this time around), the usual friends and senseis, the Hokage, and even Teuchi and Ayame were there from the ramen shop. Surprisingly even Sasuke was in attendance, with an Anbu team watching him. Everyone was dressed normally except for one who dressed for the occasion. She had her dark blue hair flowing freely down a dark grey kimono with black glistening raindrops printed on the material with a black bow tying her together around the waist. When the sun hit her kimono correctly, you could swear that it too was crying like the wearer.

The service went like any service would, friends sharing moments they had trying to hide the sadness of loosing someone so close. Sasuke felt very uncomfortable at the funeral, even though everyone knew his mind was being manipulated by the curse seal, that didn't stop hateful glares sent in his direction from one girl.

The service lasted 20 minutes before the placement of the new 'Naruto Stone' was finished. No one said a thing as the crowd silently started to disperse. As strange as it was Sasuke left first comforting a crying Sakura. Only about 2 minutes passed when Konohamaru and his small crew left with Iruka, followed by the rest moments later leaving only Kakashi and Hinata staring at the new memorial stone in silence. Kakashi walked up to Naruto's body and pulled out a little orange book, which disgusted Hinata since she knew what the book was and was about to rip his head off until he spoke to her without looking away from the motionless body.

"He always hated these books. After spending so much time with Jiraiya I thought that would change, but it was never in his nature to think in that manner." Kakashi picked up Naruto's body and set him down beside where he was to be burned and pulled out another orange book. "You know I started to read these books, when I lost my teammates on a mission, to hide my sadness, but I don't think they work very well. I know that a book can't help me now that I lost one of my students for good." Kakashi threw the two books down and pulled out another followed by another. A few minutes later there were 37 books with only 17 being 'paradise' novels, the rest were considered collectables of Jiraiya's earlier works. "At least my books will have a good purpose." Kakashi picked up the body and poofed away as the pile burst into flames leaving Hinata alone.

Now that she was alone she felt she could let out all her emotions. Falling to her knees she stared at the new stone as tears blurred her vision as she read the message again. _'In remembrance of Uzumaki Naruto – our Hokage who never was, you will truly be missed' _

"Naruto-kun…" she closed her eyes with streams of tears flowing down her face, "I will love you forever." She was spent emotionally and physically from her all night crying previously and she collapsed by the stone in a fitful sleep.

* * *

Hinata found herself being woken up at 10 pm by Neji, after sleeping for 5 hours. In the next 4 hours Hinata couldn't fully grasp everything as it flew by in a blur. Hinata ran home to throw off her father and to put everything down as usual so things could progress correctly.

"Hinata." Sternly addressed Hiashi.

"Yes father?"

"Where were you? You should have been home 30 minutes ago."

"Sorry father, I was out but fell asleep after training."

"Don't you dare lie to me. You have never been able to get one by me so why try. You were at that stupid funeral for that kid you had eyes for, correct?" Hinata was surprised at his knowledge of her feelings that she could hardly speak.

"Sorry father." She muttered out quietly

"That is of no consequence now. Since his death the clan is safe from demon blood tainting ours. We were concerned you might choose him and as a member of the main branch we couldn't stop your choice since you had full reign on that subject until your 18th birthday."

"Father, he was never a demon, he was a hero." She told him after getting her voice back.

"Enough of your insolence. We will speak of this no further understood?"

"Yes father. If that is all, I'd like to retire to my room for the night."

"Fine, go." Hinata scurried off to her room while Hiashi retired to his chambers as well.

Hinata shut her door and looked to her desk at the journal lying there. 'How could anyone hate you for keeping the demon away from us all for so long. Even with such a huge burden you managed to keep a happy face on just to keep us all in high spirits while you felt the opposite under that happiness mask. You once dropped your mask to me when we talked before the chuunin finals, and that was the moment my feelings for you deepened so much. I always admired your courage and I loved looking at those eyes, but it was when I saw how close your feelings were to my own that I saw how strong you really were. To overcome those feelings was something I couldn't do for but a few minutes, but you held it up every day of your life; I wanted that strength, that's what made me admire you the most.' Hinata was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a light knock at her door. When she opened it, there stood Neji.

"Neji-nii-san, aren't you early?"

"It's nearly midnight. When you didn't show up I came to find you."

Gasping Hinata set the book she was hugging back on the desk and searched for her clothes. She shoved Neji out of her room and changed in record time and jumped out the window to start her mission.

The operation was a complete success. Everyone in the manor was asleep except for a few guards which Neji occupied masterfully. It only took an additional 5 minutes before the 'package' was safely tucked away in the Hyuuga tomb. Hinata said a small prayer and covered his body with a white sheet.

"This tomb has weird preserving qualities stopping all decay, and it is also believed that if you remove a sheet and look upon the dead you would go insane." Hinata's words calmed Neji's apprehensive looks. Seeing that they were done with their mission they both took off in their own directions in haste. Upon returning to her room, Hinata fell into a peaceful sleep and immediately started to dream after her slightly illegal activity.

* * *

(Hinata's dream)

* * *

Glistening pale lavender eyes stared into deep blue ones but no words needed to be said they were only felt. Their faces drew closer ever so slowly until their lips pressed against each others drawing in the warmth and love of each other. Reluctantly pulling away he spoke to her.

"Hinata-chan, I love you" tears of happiness filled her pupil-less eyes.

"I love you too Naruto-kun, more that you can possibly imagine."

"Care to test that? I have a great imagination." His smile made her melt.

"Nothing will ever change my feelings for you my love."

"If that is true then… will you marry…" he never managed to finish as his voice ended and he started to disappear. His blue eyes lost their color as they faded into a grey as his blonde hair lost its life and got the color sucked out of it leaving it a weird tan color. His face also changed as the whisker marks disappeared completely. Suddenly he disappeared all together replaced by a burning sensation in her eyes.

* * *

Hinata woke from her dream and blinked trying to ease the burning feeling from the sun shining on them. Her tears started to flow when she saw the journal of the desk again signifying that he was indeed dead. 'I could never finish that dream, the only way that could happen was with you, but now I won't ever be able to. How do you expect me to live without you?' Hinata got up and did her usual morning routines and took off to the closest training ground to train away her sorrows.

* * *

(Back at Iwa Hospital) June 19 – 015 AK - Morning

* * *

"Doc, come quick! Something weird has happened to Rantou!" shouted a young nurse

"What do you want, I was trying to sleep off some of my double shift from last night."

"Well it seems that Rantou-san has increased chakra production by more than double what it was when he came in and it seems to be accelerating. If it keeps up, he'll be Jonin level in about two months. It is almost like his body is filling in a hidden void of chakra to compensate for his weakened state."

"That really is unexpected. At this rate he could leave tomorrow. I'll have to ask the Kage what we should do with him. I've already informed him of his amnesia and color blindness. Being the person he is he may take him in since he really likes those charity cases."

* * *

(Warning: some serious jumping around will occur as Hinata starts to read the journal and some things may be hard to read with all the line breaks so bear with me, some details in the journal influences changes in the past from the anime/manga)

* * *

_Years in the journal will appear as 000 AK where 000 is the year of the Kyuubi attack. This is just a reminder. Also ignore spelling errors in the journal passages, they are deliberate_

* * *

Hinata tried to do her training but realized she couldn't focus due to her constant tearing up and decided she could read some of the journal instead if all she was going to do is cry. Hinata locked herself in her room and opened the journal to the first page and smiled happily at the horrible writing inside (the handwriting, but the contents could be bad as well).

* * *

___Oct 10 - 006 AK:_

* * *

_I be 6 old now I get a visit from a old guy and he gave me this book and said I need write in it I don't like riting it is stupid I write no more_

* * *

___Oct 10 – 007AK:_

* * *

_Old man helped me with writing so I can at least make something look good. The old man told me he was the Hokage, but I still don't know what that is, but everyone is nice to him so I'm going to be Hokage too. Yesterday some of the people that used to hit me in the orphanage just disappeared and old man told me I was moving to somewhere else. I realize now I like being in the sun it's nice and warm. I never been allowed outside before I like it._

Hinata started crying again seeing how badly he was treated at such a young age. He was beaten and never allowed to feel the sun in 7 years, but she felt a little better knowing that the caretakers that disappeared were killed off by the Hokage when he found how they treated him and took him out of the orphanage to live on his own.

* * *

___Aug 20 – 008 AK: (note although it is 008 he is still 7 due to how years work, just remember that)_

* * *

_Well I still think writing in this thing sucks but I have nothing better to do since I can't sleep because tomorrow I start ninja academy. I'm hoping I can find some friends there so I have someone to talk to. This apartment is small, but it will do. It is much better than that orphanage anyways._

* * *

___Aug21 – 008 AK:_

* * *

_Well my first day of school sucked! Iruka-sensei was mad because I was late, but I'm sure I wasn't because only half of the students were actually there. I didn't like any of my senseis they all looked at me weirdly and it made me feel sick inside for some reason. All the other kids looked at me slightly different, but they were mostly all the same, I even got tripped by that dark haired pretty boy when I tried to take a seat when I hit the ground it hurt so bad. Everyone laughed at me and made fun of me when I started crying and I was kept from going to recess later because I was disrupting the class with all the laughing. I then realized that If I was already laughing then they couldn't laugh at me and I'd never show them my feelings, my loneliness, my sadness, I'll just smile and hide it all._

'So that is why you started wearing that happy mask, I didn't like those fake smiles, but I always seemed to get real ones, did you actually like me after all?' Hinata thought before continuing to read.

* * *

___Aug 27 – 008 AK:_

* * *

_I did it, I finally figured out how to not be hurt by them anymore. I accidentally spilled paint on Iruka-sensei's chair and he sat in it before I could tell him. You should have seen his face when he saw his butt was purple. This time when everyone laughed, it wasn't me they were laughing at. I figure if I could make more of these pranks I would never be laughed at again, now what should I do next…_

* * *

___August 31 – 008AK:_

* * *

_There was talk today of getting a new student next week, what better way to welcome him than with a good prank, especially since he is from that stuck-up white eyed clan that always threw stuff at me while looking at me with those ugly eyes of theirs, I hate their eyes._

'Well there went that previous thought, he hated my eyes, but my stupid family caused it'

* * *

___Sept 2 – 008AK:_

* * *

_Today started out perfectly. I had my prank all set up just waiting for the new student to arrive, I was so excited. Iruka-sensei introduced him as Hyuuga Hinata and I just laughed my ass off since he had such a girly name. I stopped laughing when he was presented to the class, and he was a she. Her head was down looking at her feet so I couldn't see her face. She walked by me to get to her seat and she looked up at me. I expected those ugly freaky eyes, but they weren't there; she had kind gentle eyes. The kindness in those eyes made me feel happy and I was able to give her a real smile and not my fake one. What was weird is she turned red and ran off to her seat like she was scared of me, it kind of irritated me, but I couldn't execute my prank on those nice eyes, I think I might have even seen her before. Although I didn't go through with it, I could let good paint go to waste and I managed to make Sakura happy now that her hair matched Sasuke's jacket. I think Sakura is cute when she is happy, I think I like her. _

'Well back to square one, I know I should just let it go, but I want to know every part of him, I owe it to him.' Hinata closed the journal since she lost the will to read after seeing how soon her crush liked the pink haired girl and decided to go try her training again.

* * *

(Iwa Hospital) June 19 – 015 AK Midday

* * *

"Ah man, how many times do I have to wake up in a hospital? Gah!" yelled Rantou

"Well, not any longer if you so desire." Came an aged voice

"And who are you?"

"I just happen to be the person the Tsuchikage ordered to bring you here. So then Rantou-san I was told to extend to you an invitation to Tsuchikage-sama's house. Oh and you can call me Sanyoto. There should be some clothes about your size in the cabinet. I'll be waiting for you outside when you finish."

Sanyoto left without another word leaving Rantou to ponder his words. He just shrugged off the feeling that the invitation was non negotiable since he wanted out of the hospital; for some unknown reason he hated hospitals and wanted out. He threw on some black cargo pants and a grey sleeved t-shirt and rushed out the door to meet back up with Sanyoto.

"That was fast, how about we go then?" Sanyoto never waited for acknowledgement and just headed into town. Rantou just shrugged and followed.

The village was quite strange to him the size seemed awkward most of the area was shops and stores. With all the villagers filling the streets there was no way they could all live there, it just doesn't make sense to not have housing for all those people. It was impossible for them all to live in this space. Rantou decided he could contemplate that later since they seemed to be heading straight to a small building at the base of a mountain outcropping.

"Say Sanyoto-san when are we getting to our destination, I'm getting quite tired." He asked trying to catch his breath from the short walk.

"We'll be there in a few moments, the building up there is the entrance."

"The entrance?"

"Yes the entrance. Haven't you noticed the absence of living space in the village?" Rantou nodded and he continued. "Since most ninja here are earth element users we found it much easier to create our homes underground. This way we can keep the village smaller and therefore we can protect it easier" He led Rantou through the massive steel reinforced oak doors and down into a long dark tunnel before reaching another set of doors smaller than the first but still large. They stepped through and Rantou looked around in awe. It looked like a small world under the ground. The mansion stood in the center of the open area with a fake sun illuminating the grounds

"So kid you like it?"

"Well it definitely is a sight to behold, I'll admit that much."

"Whatever, lets get going, we don't want to keep him waiting." They entered the large manor and maneuvered through the long maze of halls. Each hall ad a different look to it so you wouldn't get lost once you figured it out. They eventually ended up at a large dining hall where they met an older guy, probably in his mid fifties. He had a rough looking face with graying brown hair and was dressed in traditional Kage robes.

"Rantou, how are you feeling? It is quite the walk for someone still in your condition." The man asked.

"It was quite a tiring ordeal, but who may I ask are you?" Rantou responded

"I thought it would be obvious with these robes."

"Indeed it was, but I prefer hearing it straight from the one in question as to not jump to conclusions prematurely."

"Hmm, quite the vocabulary you have there my boy. You certainly are full of surprises. Dinner will be served in about 4 hours, you can rest up a bit before then. There is a room 4 doors down the hall on the right. I'll send for you when it is ready."

"As you wish Tsuchikage-sama." Rantou turned away from them and decided to get some much needed rest. Once he was out of range of hearing, Sanyoto turned to his leader.

"What do you see in this one? He has abnormally low stamina and an overly smart mouth." The Tsuchikage laughed at Sanyoto's observation.

"Oh, come now, he could have had a high class up bringing to account for his vocabulary. But to answer your question, did you see how quickly he recovered from the long walk? He was panting heavily after the walk, but after stopping for a few seconds he was rested. Furthermore according to the doctors his chakra capacity is increasing unusually fast. If he continues at that rate he will have Jonin level capacity in 3 months or less."

"That is unreal! Do you know where he came from?"

"No, we have now idea, and neither does he. Our mental experts believe he will never gain back memories. It looks like parts of his mind just don't exist. I believe with his memory gone, most likely forever, he should be trained as a ninja for our village under your supervision."

"Where will he be staying during all this?"

"He will be staying here until he finds a reason to leave. If in 3 months time he doesn't gain any memories and shows he is trustworthy, I will adopt him myself and let him have all the privileges that come with it."

"Is that really wise? We have no idea what he is capable of."

"I can't say that there isn't risks involved here, but I sense a great kindness only found in some of the greatest heroes. If we can tap that resource, it will benefit everyone and not only just our village. Besides, I hope he can rub off a little on my son"

"I suppose you may have something there. I will retire now and prepare some testing and training for him. Tell him to come by the dojo after breakfast tomorrow." Sanyoto left to his room to gather and prepare for the upcoming day.

* * *

(Konoha) June 19 – 015 AK - Evening

* * *

Hinata put her emotions into training and found herself extremely tired and went home to sleep. Even though she was physically wasted, she just couldn't get to sleep and just kept eyeing the journal. Now, well into the night, she gave into her curiosity and opened to where she left off.

* * *

___Sept 20 - 008 AK:_

* * *

_Well life hasn't been too eventful. I pulled off 5 more pranks but won't go into detail so there is no proof that I did them. I decided I should try and talk to the new girl, Hinata. There is something about her that makes me want to know her better, but she still seems to look away from me and hide behind the closest object, usually a tree or something. I guess she is just too shy and weird, but I'll try again later. I did manage to talk to Sakura though, but her fist was the one talking back. I failed another test today, they seem way too hard. I can't even find anything about the questions in any of the books we have; maybe I just am stupid like everyone says. If I'm going to fail anyways, I may as well sleep._

* * *

___Oct 10 -008 AK:_

* * *

_Well I'm 8 years old today, but like every year I'm staying inside to avoid the villagers since they are always more violent on this day. I usually would sleep all day, but I feel like doing something so I guess I'll write._

_A couple days ago I was walking back from academy and I saw Sakura and Ino picking flowers in a field and giggling about something. I decided to see what they were doing and walked up to the girls. They just took one look at me and yelled at me to go away and threatened to hit me if I didn't. I turned around quickly and ran into something. What I saw was Hinata standing there with an outstretched hand with nothing in it. She looked at her hand and looked at something on the ground, but I couldn't look away from her eyes to see what she was looking at, they we just so comforting to look into. Suddenly I saw tears flowing out of her eyes, I tried to smile to cheer her up, but it just made it worse and she ran away crying. Like usual Sakura and Ino saw a crying girl run away from me and thought I hurt her and began to beat me senseless. Before knocking me out, they told me if I ever came anywhere near Hinata I'd regret it. I really just wanted to be her friend since she seemed very lonely, but to avoid another beating like that, I'll ignore her and try to be nice to Sakura._

'I'm sorry for running away, I was just trying to give you a flower, but I thought you knocked it away from me on purpose and then smiled like nothing happened, I guess it really was my fault you ignored me' Hinata closed the book and found it much easier this time to fall straight to sleep even with the tears in her eyes.

* * *

...Later


	3. Chapter 3

(Opening notes)

If you were wondering, January 1 001AK: was the first day of the newest year **A**fter the **K**yuubi attack, get the abbreviation now?

* * *

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15 - AK means After Kyuubi

* * *

(Iwa – Tsuchikage mansion) June 20 – 015 AK – Morning

* * *

Yesterday after Rantou found his room he decided on a shower and a short nap since he was feeling quite tired. Only moments later after lying down on the soft mattress, he lost himself in another dreamless sleep. (no memories, no dreams right?) This morning he was startled from his sleep by a knocking at his door.

"What the… oh… come in." he called to the person knocking. The slender man, in his 40s, opened the door and entered the room looking him up and down like he was analyzing him, although he was still lying in bed. "Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, my humble apologies, Rantou-sama, I guess I just got side tracked. Your presence is requested in the dining hall."

"I'll be right there, but why are you calling me –sama?"

"Well it's… it seemed right to do so." The man quickly retreated so he couldn't spill anything else regarding is possible adoption.

"Hmm… that guy was weird." Rantou shrugged it off and attempted to get out of bed with the effort it took him yesterday (he doesn't know he slept all night yet, still thinks it's a nap) but found a slight problem, when he did that he found himself flying head first into the ceiling from trying to stand. "Maybe I'm just a little too energetic right now" he reasoned. After getting dressed again and cleaned up, not without a couple bruises and an uncontrolled punch to the face, he proceeded to the dining hall. (He is still gaining large amounts of chakra while asleep, so his strength is increasing as more chakra ends up going to his limbs) Upon entering he was in awe at the spread laid out on the table. Every thing you could imagine to have for breakfast was there, but that really struck Rantou as weird.

"Is there some thing the matter my boy?" asked the Tsuchikage seeing the look on his face.

"Well… It seems unusual to have breakfast items for an afternoon meal." The older man's face crept into a smile before he started into a robust laughter.

"Well you see my boy, when we went to wake you, you were so deep in sleep that nothing shy of a fire started on your face would have woken you, so we let you sleep. It is indeed morning, so please sit down and enjoy some food; oh and this is my son Santen." Gestured to the young man next to him.

"Thank you for your hospitality Tsuchikage-sama, Santen-san" he replied with a bow before taking a seat at the table.

"There is no need for such formalities in this house my boy, feel free to call me Kenji"

"Thank you Kenji-sama."

"Well I suppose it's a start. Go ahead and help yourself to anything you like, we still have much to talk about." They we hoping to talk while eating, but the two were speechless when Rantou dished up a double helping of just about everything and started to eat at an astonishing pace. It only took a few minutes for him to polish off what he took and sat back in his chair satisfied and relaxed. Kenji had to mentally slap himself to get over his shock at his overly exuberant eating.

"Well then my boy, I guess we can continue with introductions, the usual likes and dislikes we ninja tend to ask. I'll start out. My interests only include my role as Kage since I have little else to spend time on. I have changed the ways of this village after the last Kage that started the last ninja war and am now allied with nearly every nation. I like helping all the people I can, and I dislike dealing with arrogant leaders and dignitaries. Lastly I hope my son can find happiness in marriage to rid him of his lecherous ways. You're next Santen."

The young brown haired, pale blue eyed teen smoothed out his bandana, which contained his symbol for the village, like he was showing off his coolness. "Well my interests are mainly women. I dislike fat ugly women, and my dream is to be with a lot of women." (a real bastard isn't he?)

"As you can see my son is a bit of a ladies man (He just needs some courvoisier cognac and a fro and he'd be Leon Phelps...yeah), but I hope someday one of his ladies can calm him into settling down… you're next my boy."

"Well I can't tell much since I have no memories, but I almost feel there is something missing when I think of stuff. I get shadows of where people should be but it was like they were completely removed. Oh and better yet breakfast could have been purple and I wouldn't have been able to tell since I can't see any color."

"Well thank you for sharing, that is quite interesting. Well I have to go off and do my duties for the village and I'm sure Santen is due for a mission, so I ask that you go to the dojo and meet up with Sanyoto. I've requested that he test you in the ninja arts to see were you can fit into society."

"That sounds satisfactory Kenji-sama; I don't have much else to do today now do I?"

"Very well my boy, we will talk again at the evening meal about what you've learned. When you are ready, ask any of the workers to direct you to the dojo." After that was said, Kenji and Santen excused them selves and disappeared in to the halls. Rantou didn't think about it much before finding the closest person to lead him to the dojo.

* * *

There was nothing special about the dojo when he found himself there. There were targets to one side practice dummies on the other, and the walls were lined with various weapons. Rantou walked to the center of the dojo and bowed to Sanyoto, who was waiting there for him.

"Sanyoto-sensei, I'm here for what ever you have planned."

"Very good Rantou" bows to him in similar fashion. "For a Ninja village, like this one, the most useful and interesting occupation is of course that of a ninja. Because of that, I will be testing you in various techniques to see if you hold any potential for this occupation. Any questions?" seeing a negative gesture Sanyoto handed him a set of kunai "Alright take these kunai and attempt to get them close to any of those three targets."

Rantou felt his body go on auto pilot as he picked up three kunai and looked at them strangely before chucking all three at once striking each target dead center like it was second nature. Sanyoto's eyes widened in surprise since only some of the greatest of their genin were capable of that task.

"Ahem…um, well I guess we don't need to test you anymore, you were clearly a ninja at some point. But there is something about you that makes no sense. Your level of chakra is too low for any real powerful jutsus but it will be rising quickly with training."

"Well that's good, I hope by doing this I can remember where I learned this stuff. It just feels like I've always been able to do some of these things… I hate having no memories."

"Yeah that must suck, but I would like to see what else you might be able to do, if that's ok of course."

"Yeah sure whatever, I need to find out about myself so let's go."

"Alright, this is only a test with hand to hand combat. It will only last a few seconds so we don't get tired out before we get into the good stuff." Sanyoto got into a fighting stance as Rantou just lazily stood there. 'Well he doesn't have a stance but he has that look, I wonder if that _is_ his stance' He slowly threw out a punch so his student was sure to see it and as predicted it was caught, but he was caught off guard when Rantou twisted the wrist and charged an elbow towards his abdomen as a distraction while his other fist came underneath his guard making full contact with his sternum. "I've seen enough" Sanyoto called out after the quick altercation.

"You seem to have a knack of unpredictability in your technique, very strange but effective. Obviously you have stamina issues since you are panting after such a brief spar. After a brief rest we will see how you are with chakra techniques." Rantou got a good few minutes of rest and was able to overcome his slight fatigue from the fight easily.

"Ok, now since you rested up a bit we can try out some jutsu." Rantou still couldn't figure it out, but just the thought of learning a new jutsu excited him which didn't get by his sensei. "Let's try an easy earth jutsu, just follow what I do." Sanyoto ran through three hand signs and placed his palms to the ground "Earth Displacement" the ground lightly shook as a few small rocks jumped upwards from the ground. "There, now it's your turn."

Rantou mimicked his motions perfectly but when he placed his palm to the ground he got a small dust cloud and nothing else. "That was strange, you did it perfectly but your chakra failed to convert to the proper element… which brings me to an idea. Wait here I need to go get something." Sanyoto disappears and returns a few minutes later holding a small piece of paper. "Here take this piece of paper and channel chakra into it, it is sensitive to elemental chakra and will reveal to us which way your chakra leans. If it gets sliced in half it is wind, burns it's fire, crinkles it's lightning, turns to dust it's earth, and if it get wet it's water. Just give it a go, I have a feeling I know what your element is."

Rantou channeled his chakra into the paper and it resulted in being shredded into confetti and swirled around the dojo. "Well I did expect the wind element, but I've never seen the concentration of it, this is unreal. I believe you may only have wind element chakra, not chakra that leans towards wind. It is rare to have a wind element user, but rarer still is to have only one element, an element master. I believe you may be a wind master, as we call them. There has only been one in history and that was centuries ago so I would be honored if you would allow me to continue training you for the next year as a ninja for our village." Sanyoto proposed.

"That is an interesting proposal, but if I may put some stipulations on this I will take you up on it. First, if I get any leads on my memories I am allowed to follow up on them and second I will not be required to pledge full allegiance with this village."

"Ok I can understand the first request, but I can't authorize the second. Why wouldn't you pledge loyalty to our village if we are willing to invest considerable time and money into your training?"

"Well I figured if I already belonged to a village before I lost my memories, then by pledging loyalty to this one would be seen as treason and I wouldn't be allowed to return there. I think it would be better if I was just a ninja for hire based in this village for now."

"Well I can see your reasoning in that. I will have to talk to Kenji-sama to see if we are allowed to do that. We'll talk to him about it at the evening meal. Until then I think you should try some sleep again, it may have been only about an hour we've been here, but you seem wasted again." Rantou silently agreed and walked back to his room and fell straight to sleep when he face planted on the bed.

* * *

(Konoha) June 20 – 015 AK – Midday

* * *

"Alright Hinata, I think we should stop now, it was a good spar." Called out Kiba as he was sitting on the ground, panting, next to an equally wasted dog.

"No, Kiba-kun, let's keep going I'm not quite tired yet." She replied while getting back into a ready stance.

"Sorry, but I wasn't saying this for your health. I'm wasted, you kicked my ass today. I don't know what has gotten into you, but I can't keep up. Lets go Akamaru." With Kiba no longer willing to train with her she decided to return to her room since she couldn't train by herself yet without crying. Hinata drug herself into her room and after a quick shower she locked the door as to not be interrupted and opened the journal.

* * *

___March 5 – 009AK:_

* * *

_More months of sucky school went by about the same as it did for the last ones. Sakura hit me many times, I played a few more pranks and had to try really hard to avoid Hinata with that threat hanging around, but she is just so nice I don't think I can avoid her forever but I don't think I'd really want to. Well anyways we had another one of those impossible tests today, but I decided to right down the question this time:_

_A shinobi falling at -4m/s lands on a foam pit and comes to rest compressing the pit .4m If the pit is able to exert an average force of 1200N on the shinobi when breaking the fall, then what is his mass?_

_Now I have no clue what that is talking about and all I could put on the paper for an answer was 'What was the shinobi's name and did he use a jutsu while falling' If these are the questions used for being a shinobi, than I'm tempted to quit, but I will never give up! _

* * *

___June 10 – 009 AK:_

* * *

_Classes are over for a while, but I don't feel any smarter for being in school for a year, maybe I am dumb. Today old man Hokage came by and asked to read my Journal. By the time he got to the end, he seemed very unhappy and said something about the academy and stormed out of my apartment. I wonder if I wrote something I shouldn't have… Maybe I'll just stop writing._

* * *

___Oct 10 – 009 AK:_

* * *

_I still haven't figured out why the villagers still hate me, I haven't really done anything to them but they sure do things to me. Well I'm 9 now, but still alone for my birthday. Old man would come to see me, but I know he needs to keep the ninja inline at the festival. I have been completely successful in avoiding Hinata. It hurts to ignore someone so gentle, but I think it will hurt more if I get beaten again._

* * *

___Oct 10 – 010 AK_

* * *

_Well I'm 10 now and another worthless year has gone by since the last time I wrote. This year at academy went a lot better than the previous years and I've found some kids that tolerate me now. If I need help with a prank, Kiba is there to help and his little puppy is a riot. If I just want to relax and not talk the cloud watching Shikamaru is there but I think he is too lazy to care who joins him as long as he doesn't have to talk. I could probably call them friends, but it doesn't quite seem that way to me._

* * *

___Oct 10 – 011 AK:_

* * *

_11 yrs old… Started my third year at academy. The villagers have seemed to be a little less upfront about hating me, but they just settled for those evil glares. This year we are focusing on fighting techniques and jutsus instead of all the boring history and theories. I found that most everyone knew basic taijutsu and weapon throwing and some even know ninjutsu. I am so far behind in all those areas that I will need a lot of practice. I have also found that the girls around have been getting more attractive this year. Sakura and Ino started fighting over who sits next to that stuck up Uchiha, I don't see what is so special about him. Also Hinata started wearing a huge coat for some reason and it helps her blend in to the point that I can easily ignore her even when I don't want to._

* * *

___Oct 10 - 012 AK:_

* * *

_Another year… I'm 12 and things seem to be looking up. I still avoid the streets this day, but at least I don't have to avoid everyone on the streets anymore. Stranger yet, Iruka-sensei is really nice to me; just 2 days ago he took me out to Ichiraku's for some ramen. Over our ramen he told me that I should write in a journal or something to have a thing to look back at my accomplishments, so I'll try writing more often again._

Hinata never made it any further since she just couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and fell asleep in the pages of the open journal.

* * *

(Iwa) June 20 – 015 AK - Evening

* * *

When evening came, Rantou was oblivious to it as he was still sleeping. He was so sound asleep he didn't hear the knocking or shouting.

"Rantou you awake?" Sanyoto got no answer. "HEY! WAKE UP!." Still no response so he decided to check and make sure he was still breathing. 'damn that kid can sleep' he thought as he left the room to meet the Kage for the evening.

"So Sanyoto, how did the testing go?" asked Kenji

"Well I think I tired him out a little too much in that short time, he's still sleeping." He replied sitting down next to Kenji at the table.

"He is still quite low on chakra, but since we found him he has nearly 6x's the chakra. You can expect double that again by tomorrow so you might be able to do some real training"

"Wait, I never told you that he even took to being a ninja yet. How would you know he would?"

"I'm the Kage, I'm supposed to know these things" Kenji said with a smile. "That and every time someone new to him walked in the dining hall at breakfast he would grab at his right thigh like he was expecting there to be a kunai pouch."

"Yes, I do recall him doing the same in our little spar."

"So what do you think of his skills?"

"Well he has definitely been trained as a ninja but he has no real taijutsu stance. I feel it is probably due to the fact that his moves make no sense and can't be predicted almost like it was created for people who excel at predicting movements (like a style built for the intended use against an Uchiha), Even at the slow speed we were moving at he still got in a hit I wasn't expecting. Target practice was a waste, he is probably better than I am, but the jutsus is where things get interesting. I believe he is a wind master." Kenji dropped his eating utensils in shock at what he was implying. "He is also very silent and has a dry personality; he probably lost that with his memories."

"Well even I didn't expect a wind master. Did you bring up him joining our village yet?"

"Yes I did, but he refuses to pledge full loyalty to the village incase he belonged to another and wanted to rejoin, and he wanted free reign if he found leads to his memories."

"Well, he thought that one out well. I believe we can still benefit from his services. Make sure he gets that blank forehead protector back to signify him as a ninja and train him for one year. After that year he will be placed on missions to pay for his training for about half of a year then he is free to do what he wants. There is another stipulation, he has to become a noble of the village with everything that goes with it. It is village law that any elemental master staying for over one year is to be registered as such. You may also want to find an etiquette specialist to teach him all the aspects of being a noble."

The two continued the rest of the meal in near silence, Santen was out on a mission leaving just the two. When they were finished they excused themselves at went their own way.

* * *

(Konoha) June 21 – 015 AK – Daybreak

* * *

Hinata woke with a horrible neck ache and lightly cursed herself for falling asleep in the journal. Since it was very early still, Hinata decided to read more about Naruto's life before morning training.

* * *

___Nov 7 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Today is yet another day. I finished for the day at the academy and decided to get in my extra practice, that I clearly need, to catch up to anyone. What is really strange is that for about the last year, I get this feeling like I'm being watched, but it isn't that freaky being watched, it is more calming. What was different about today is I caught a glimpse of the person watching me hiding behind the academy building. When I investigated the person disappeared and so did that nice feeling. I think I just might have an angel watching over me._

* * *

_Dec 12 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Iruka-sensei took me to lunch last week and seems to be doing it much more often, but I'm not complaining about free ramen. Also today Iruka announced that there was going to be a Christmas dance or whatever. I had no idea what is was, but he said that you should ask someone of the opposite gender to go with you. Immediately everyone started talking and I decided to look around the class and saw Hinata looking right at me with a bright red face. I really wonder if she was feeling alright. I saw Sakura ask Sasuke and he said it was a complete waste of time and Sakura looked crushed. I decided to ask her if I could take her to try and cheer her up, but she told me to shut up and greeted my face with a fist or five. I decided to ignore everything and just not go. Like Shikamaru would say, it was just too troublesome. _

* * *

___Jan 13 – 013 AK:_

* * *

_Yay a new year. For the next half a year we will be focusing on the techniques to pass the genin exams. Iruka-sensei has a list of 20 techniques that could be on the test, and to my horror most of the students could already do half of them while I struggled with the first one_

* * *

___Jan 24 – 013 AK:_

* * *

_Today I was somewhat able to do the henge but it didn't have the flair I wanted it to. Then when I saw a woman in the village that was wearing very little clothes and gaining the looks of all the guys I thought of the perfect getaway technique for my pranks, they wouldn't be able to think with a half dressed woman there._

* * *

___Feb 4 – 013 AK:_

* * *

_I have put substantial effort into my new distraction jutsu, but it just wasn't turning out right because I had no idea what a woman's body looks like so I decided to research it a bit. I found a magazine store where only men shopped and I thought there might be something to base my jutsu off of in there, and was I ever right, but the women in those magazines wore nothing. I was shocked by how strangely pretty a girl looks with no clothes on, but unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to look at another girl without imagining them naked. I feel so perverted now, but at least I made my jutsu a complete success._

* * *

___Feb 17 – 013 AK:_

* * *

_I am completely drained after sweeping and mopping the entire academy! I did pass the henge test, barely, after knocking Iruka out for 30 minutes with my new jutsu. I don't know why, but Hinata asked Iruka if she could help with the cleaning, maybe she thought is was good training._

* * *

___Feb 27 – 013 AK:_

* * *

_Tomorrow is the genin exams, hopefully I'll pass, but I suck at tests. If they test me on bushins, I'll surely fail since I can't ever do them correctly. I hope they won't test us on that._

* * *

___March 1 – 013 AK:_

* * *

_Yesterday was the genin exam and like I thought, they put the bushin on the test and I failed horribly, but when I walked to the front of the room for my test I saw Hinata looking at me again and she was doing her finger prodding thing she does when she tries to get courage to say something. I may seem stupid, some things I do notice, but I still haven't figured out why she turns so red when I look at her. She really does look cute sometimes, but I can never do anything about it since I could get beat down again, so why not ask Sakura out on a date, that way I will only get hit a couple times. _

_It's getting so easy to ask Sakura out that I think I may actually like her now, she is kind of pretty. Well anyways I watched all the parents proudly pick up their kids and congratulated them on passing while I stared at my feet in my swing. I saw Hinata was looking at me sadly and I pulled a cheery smile from my bag of fake smiles but it fell soon after seeing the older Hyuuga glare at me with those horrible eyes. After everyone left Mizuki-sensei talked me into stealing a scroll from the old man saying if I learned a jutsu from the scroll I would pass, but he lied. I did manage to learn a jutsu and defeated him with it, the Kage Bushin. After defeating him Iruka-sensei gave me his forehead protector and said I passed. So today I can't wait to see the look on all those idiots' faces when the future Hokage gets his team assignment._

Hinata smiled a bit but still slammed the journal shut in anger. 'Damn it Sakura! It was your fault everything happened. If you wouldn't have threatened him he would have talked to me, and if you wouldn't have made him promise to bring Sasuke back he'd still be alive!' Hinata screamed in her mind some more before she decided she needs to go out and confront that problem, well maybe after breakfast.

* * *

(Ending notes)

FYI: The answer to that math word problem should be 60kg...

...Later


	4. Chapter 4

(Opening notes)

There may be a need for extra clearification, Naruto 'died' while training with Jiraiya when he found Sasuke for the second time, not on the retrieval mission for Sasuke. There were a few that got that mixed up, and where one messes up there are sure to be more.

* * *

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

'thoughts' - just a reminder

* * *

(Iwa) June 21 – 015 AK - Morning

* * *

This morning was about the same as the last. Rantou injured himself a bit trying to drag himself out of bed. Once again he was surprised that he missed evening but didn't dwell on that for too long. He quietly went to the dining room and ate breakfast while Kenji explained his own stipulations before offering the forehead protector. (If you forgot already, back up a chapter to refresh)

"Do you accept my boy?"

"Before I give an answer, what does being a noble entail?"

"Very astute my boy, nobles usually are mostly just for show. Usually you only see them during village events. Another use is to be a medium for disputes helping the parties to settle their differences. We are also required to list your marital status to be reported to other nobles and noble clans for possible betrothal. Nearly all requests of that nature will be optional only requiring a letter of declination, but every so often you may be involved with one that is mandatory requiring you to meet with the person before you can decline; that is usually reserved for events that may strengthen village's alliances. One more thing they get is a weapon specially built for your strengths."

"So I don't have to get married at all, but some betrothal meetings require attendance correct?" Rantou got a nod in agreement and picked up the forehead protector wrapping it around his head securely. "Thank you Kenji-sama, I will report to Sanyoto-sensei for more training." Rantou excused himself from the table and left to find his sensei in the dojo.

* * *

(Konoha) June 21 – 015 AK – Midmorning

* * *

Hinata had her breakfast and got in her light morning training but still couldn't focus until he had gotten the anger she felt taken care of. Bringing the journal along for proof, Hinata marched her way to Sakura's house. Filled with determination Hinata walked up to the door and knocked loudly bringing the pink haired medic to the door.

"Hello Hin…" Sakura never got the rest out before the young Hyuuga slapped her across the face knocking her back in pain and shock "What the hell was that for Hinata!?"

"Let's just say we have some things to talk about." Hinata held the journal up and stepped into the house without asking permission. Sakura closed the door and sat her down so they could talk about the issue. After some short explanations, one being Sakura didn't think Naruto would remember her threats which Hinata unfortunately agreed with for a logical reason. They decided to sit down and read a couple entries together of course after Sakura apologized for threatening him again.

* * *

___March 2 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Argh, first I get stuck on a team with Sasuke-teme, and then I get stuck with a chronologically challenged, always late not old, pervert sensei. There is some good news though Sakura is on my team and hopefully she will see that I am just as good as the teme and acknowledge me. Anyways, Kakashi-sensei sucks with his stupid bell test but in a weird twist of events we ended up passing his stupid test and became his first team of genins and tomorrow we get our first mission!_

* * *

___March 9 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Argh… they call these missions!? I bet even Konohamaru could do these. I mean really, how many times do I have to get scratched by that stupid cat before I get a real mission? Apparently us genin are also the local weed pullers as well, this just sucks I need a better mission!_

* * *

___March 10 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Today I yelled at old man Hokage for giving us all these crappy missions all the time, and he finally gave up and gave us a C mission guarding a drunken old bridge builder on his return to wave country. I think it will be nice to leave this village for a while._

* * *

___May 12 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_I don't bring my Journal with me on missions for security reasons… our team just got back from our dangerous mission to wave. It was supposed to be a C mission, but it ended up being an A instead because Tazuna and the Wave country didn't have the money for an A class. I will make this story very short. On our way there we ran into a couple missing nins and they ended up poisoning me in the fight. They were defeated and we carried on until we met up with another couple nins known as Zabuza and Haku. Kakashi-sensei got trapped in a jutsu and Sasuke and I had to free him and then he beat him until Haku showed up and faked Zabuza's death and retreated with him. We got to Tazuna's house and met Tsunami and her son Inari and then Kakashi-sensei made us climb trees with chakra. Sasuke and I sucked at it but Sakura did it almost perfectly the first time. I passed out during training and met Haku and mistook him as a girl but he was actually quite nice. He showed me rule # 25 of shinobi code is stupid, we are humans we can't ever not show emotions, some emotions make us stronger. It was after Zabuza and Haku died, after Zabuka killed of Gatou the bastard that hired him, that I decided I would make my own way of the ninja, I will never give up, never go back on my promises, and I will protect all those precious in my life._

* * *

___June 12 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_A few days ago some of us ran into some strange ninja from the sand village. They told us they were here for the chuunin exams, I've never heard of them, but later Kakashi-sensei told us we could enter them as well._

* * *

___July 1 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Today was the start of the exams, we ran into some problem getting to the exam room mostly due to Sasuke being a show off and drawing too much attention to himself, but I didn't do much better when we were in the exam room. We met a guy named Kabuto, he seemed strange since he hasn't passed the exam in 4 years. Well the written part of the exam was a pain, I didn't know any of them. I was quite frustrated until Hinata surprised me by letting me cheat off her paper, I didn't even see her there. I didn't cheat just because I didn't want to take the chance of getting her failed for helping me, but I guess I missed the point of the test. I figured I should have known them since I've seen them all the first year of academy on those tests, so how was I supposed to know I was supposed to cheat? Now that I know those questions were never intended to be answered, I'll be sure to stick Iruka-sensei with an extra large bill next time we go out to Ichiraku's. We all passed before a crazy ass lady jumped into the room announcing the next part of the exam._

* * *

___July 8 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Woohoo! I won my match against Kiba! Oops I never wrote about anything else. Well we went into the forest of death and got attacked by Orochimaru. I got swallowed by a huge snake and then we fought, and lost badly, and Sasuke got bitten by the freak while I got punched and that felt really weird. Well we then fought some other weird dudes to get our scrolls and we ended up in the tower. Since there was quite a few ninja teams that passed we had an preliminary round to remove some people. Sasuke fought a dude named Yoroi and barely won. Next Shino decimated that sound bastard Zaku with his bugs. _

_Kankuro, the puppet dude from sand, fought Tsurugu, the puppet dude won but I wasn't paying attention much. Sakura and Ino fought and they ended knocking each other out. That sand lady Temari easily defeated Tenten since her weapons were useless. Shikamaru won against Kin even though he said it was too troublesome. I got my match next with Kiba, but It was all just a blur. Luckily I won against him but I won't tell him it was that lucky. _

_The next match was mean, pathetic and probably one I will never forget. Before that match Hinata gave me this awesome ointment that instantly healed my cuts, although I wonder why she did that for me when all I do is ignore her. I don't like remembering her match with Neji his attacks were brutal and I really hated seeing Hinata get hurt so badly, but she kept going like a strong ninja should. Sakura said something about her watching me and that was why she didn't give up. I know that is a huge hint to something really big, but I'll think about that later. When Hinata coughed up blood and fell to the ground, I couldn't stop myself from jumping down and vowing on her blood to defeat Neji for hurting such a kind girl. _

_The fight with Gaara and Lee was huge. Lee used these gate thingies and got really fast, but Gaara still nearly killed him. Last Choji got put down quickly by Dosu with a single punch. I now have about a month to train to fight Neji and that favorite playing bastard sensei went to train Sasuke while leaving me with that perverted ass Ebizu._

"Well sorry for slapping you Sakura, I was just so angry."

"That's not a problem, but what got into you recently, you don't seem like you anymore?"

"I decided I need to change. If I could have talked to Naruto-kun, things may have been different. If I want to keep any other people in my life, I need to stop being so shy, I would completely die if another person is taken from my life, I still don't know how I'll survive without Naruto ever coming back."

"Well, before you do anything stupid, be sure to come by and talk." Hinata turned around and walked out the door, shutting it and ran back to the Hyuuga manor and returned to her room locking the door again.

* * *

___July 9 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Today was quite weird. I went to go train with Ebizu. He was in the process of teaching me how to walk on water when we got interrupted by perverted giggling. We saw a old guy peeping into the woman's side of the bath and Ebizu wanted to cover for being a pervert himself and tried to stop him, that was a bad idea since it turned out he was Jiraiya of the3 legendary perverts, well actually sannin, but I end up with 3 perverts to teach me so you get the idea. I tricked Jiraiya, ero-sennin, into training me where Ebizu left off by using my sexy jutsu. I found out that the weird punch the snake freak gave me messed up my chakra control. Once that was fixed water walking was easy and he decided to teach me summoning with my red chakra._

* * *

___Aug 10 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_Chuunin finals are today and a lot has happened since I started training. I woke up in the hospital yesterday after depleting my chakra. Ero sennin thought that the only way to bring out my red chakra was to put my life on the line so he decided to throw me off a freaking cliff! If that didn't work I would have been dead, but it did and I managed to summon Gamabunta, the toad boss after demanding chakra from the bastard fox. I ended up in a contest to stay on the huge toad's back and it ended with me passing out, but I think I won. Also yesterday Gaara and his crazy ass tried to kill off Lee in the hospital; this guy is nuts!_

* * *

___Aug 13 – 012 AK_

* * *

_Man shit sure has hit the sky recently, but I'll just start from the beginning. Two days ago I was so worried about fighting Neji that I went for a walk to calm myself and I ended up at the training area where I became a genin. Surprisingly Hinata was there, she really seems to be popping up a lot recently, and I guess I surprised her since she tried to hide behind one of the stumps. I decided she would be the perfect person to ask about Neji. I told her I felt like a failure but she nearly yelled at me that it wasn't true. She thought that if anything I was a proud failure and that I filled her with admiration and that she thought I was a strong person. I got the feeling that she was tempted to say more but it could have just been me. She made me feel so good about myself, I really think I like people like her._

_I beat Neji by a little trick and help of Kyuubi's chakra. Sasuke got special treatment again and got his match postponed with Gaara. Let's skip though the other matches since they were boring. The sound invaded and Gaara ran off to transform into a weird creature of sand, he has a demon as well, and attacked Sakura and Sasuke. They got beat pretty bad and I had to step in and save them. I summoned Gamabunta, but not before summoning Gamakichi accidentally. I battled with him and things got fuzzy from there on and we both ended up passing out. Unfortunately the snake bastard fought old man Hokage and killed him before he was run out of the village. His funeral is in a few hours._

* * *

___Sept 12 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_I haven't written in a month and I have done a lot. Ero-sennin and I went to find the fifth Hokage outside of the village. During the trip I learned the Rasengan and even won a bet with Baa-chan earning her necklace in return. We finally convinced her to come back after fighting the snake bastard again, once again he got away. When we returned home Shikamaru was promoted to chuunin and Tsunade-baa-chan healed the seriously injured ninja, Sasuke got his ass kicked by his brother Itachi early in the trip to find baa-chan. After Sasuke was healed he was a complete ass and we ended up fighting on the roof of the hospital. Shortly after it was broken up, Sasuke left to find power with Orochimaru. Sakura was so sad with him leaving even after trying everything to stay with him. When he left, she just cried like I haven't seen her do before. That was when I saw that she really did love him, and I realized that was not the same I felt towards her, so I guess me liking her was a big lie even to myself, but I still promised to bring Sasuke back to her._

_A team of genin were assembled to chase down Sasuke and bring him back, but along the way we ran into quite a few sound bastards with curse seals. Quite a few of my friends were hurt badly in fighting them , but I did catch up with Sasuke. We beat the hell out of each other, but he always seemed to be ahead of me in everything. I believe he really was trying to kill me since I should have died three times during the fight, but Kyuubi kept healing me. At one point I could have killed him, but I decided to scratch his forehead protector instead just to show that I could have, but that got me a hole in my chest again. Again I woke up in a hospital bed and I felt so useless, but Ero-sennin decided I should go with him on a training trip for about 3 years. We will be leaving in a few months and he said I should do some missions here to gather some money._

* * *

___Dec 7 – 012 AK:_

* * *

_I leave with ero-sennin today and it has been kind of crazy around here. I did some 'guard this' and 'get that' type of missions but nothing to help find Sasuke until on mission. I was sent with Shino and Hinata to find a bug I still can't pronounce. We failed it horribly, but I did remember a few things about it. While we were sleeping, I needed to relieve myself and for some reason I was drawn to a river and there in the moonlight I witnessed the most beautiful sight. There was a beautiful girl dancing naked on the water. Her moves were elegant as the water splashed all around her, she was mesmerizing. I'm glad I couldn't see her form in detail otherwise my head would explode, but I was still drawn to get closer. _

_I got to the edge and slipped and fell into the water scaring her away. I first thought it was a dream, but for something being more beautiful than I have ever seen, it would have to be real since dreams are based on what you've seen. Now I know I can be seen as quite stupid at times, but some things never get by me so this is what I figured out. She was about my age and since she was on the water, she had to be a ninja, now who was around in that area that is my age and a ninja and also a female, oh and who else wasn't asleep in the tent… Hinata. I do see why she wears that coat now, it is to hide all that beauty. I played my experience off as a dream and told Kiba about it making Hinata glow red in the face. Well I guess I should be off from here for three years…goodbye Konoha._

'Naruto-kun… you knew it was me, and you liked it? I wish I could have talked to you more, now all these feelings about you possibly liking me back are all wasted' Hinata closed the journal and hugged it close to her as she cried herself to sleep for another session of restless slumber.

* * *

(Iwa) Same time frame

* * *

Rantou found his day of training to be exhausting. He was introduced to the chakra amplifier (the special weapon for nobles), in the form of a hilt, and managed to make a small dagger of wind based chakra after 3 hours of trying. Once again he fell into his usual slumber not to awake before morning again.

* * *

(Konoha) June 22 – 015 AK – Morning

* * *

Hinata woke early determined to reach the end of the journal in the last sitting no matter what. She took a quick shower and sat down at her desk to finish her reading.

* * *

___Oct 10 – 014 AK:_

* * *

_Ero-sennin's training is really hard; he only gives me my birthday off to myself since he does his research while I train. I usually find him standing next to me saying I shouldn't be lying around when he comes by the next morning to where I passed out training. I guess he did manage to teach me some new jutsus and I got the Rasengan perfected to one hand so it isn't a complete waste. The problem I have is ero-sennin is getting obsessed with the Kyuubi chakra and wants me to concentrate most of my time on controlling it. I hate using too much of that chakra since it makes some of my emotions disappear in favor of anger and the need to kill. I hate that feeling._

* * *

___March 21 – 015 AK:_

* * *

_I managed to get some time away to write since Ero-sennin is doing his peeping for those damn books all day. He even wants me to read them for my training, yeah right. Well today I read everything I wrote in my journal so far, and the strangest thing popped out at me. In all the years Hinata has made it into nearly every entry. I noticed many entries said that she was always red, like blushing, when she was looking at me. Can that really mean she likes me? I must be the only person in Konoha to not notice, I must really be dumb. I want to entertain the idea of being with her, but I know it can never be. She is from a prestigious clan and will most likely married away for someone to gain power, besides I'm an orphan with a freaking demon stuck in my gut, I'd be killed on sight anywhere near the manor and even if we did manage to be together how would the village see her? I can't let her experience those looks from all the people._

* * *

___Oct 10 – 015 AK:_

* * *

_I guess I'm 15 now, boy time flies when you have no idea what is going on sometimes. I'm creating a twist on the Kage bushin and it is quite difficult to get what I want. I'm trying to get a more durable clone, but when I think I'm coming close, I loose a day of my memories somewhere. I usually find myself wandering around aimlessly. Ero-senin keeps yelling at me for wandering around recently due to Akatsuki, since they are supposedly on the move again. Because of that, he decided to personally supervise my training, but that means more fox chakra training. I got to about two tails worth of chakra easily, but ero-sennin says I need much more. Every time I use that chakra it makes me sick with all that blood lust. Anyways, I am really looking forward to returning home in 8 months._

* * *

___Feb 12 – 016 AK:_

* * *

_A few days ago, not sure how many, I managed to pull out 3 tails of chakra and still felt mostly in control, but Ero-sennin wanted more so I pulled for more, and that was when everything went black. When I woke up I was in the middle of 2 acres of destroyed land and almost no clothing was on me and ero-sennin was barely conscious. According to him 4 tails has exponentially more power than the other tailed stages. This was exactly the reason I hated using that chakra and now he is stuck in a hospital for a while, but at least I can work on my modified jutsu._

* * *

___Feb 21 – 016 AK:_

* * *

_I think I just made a breakthrough on my jutsu. I tried reinforcing my clones with even more chakra, but if I did it in a certain way, they actually generate chakra on their own. They are almost as durable as I am and are different in personalities than before. The only way to dispel them is to make contact with them and then try to cancel the jutsu. The coolest part is your chakra isn't wasted when they dispel but what they didn't use comes back to me._

* * *

___May 12 – 016 AK:_

* * *

_I've gotten better at my new clones but every so often I get a clone that looks drastically different than I look and even has an almost opposite personality, not just a different one. But the worst part is we both think we are the creator of the jutsu. It's just creepy._

* * *

___June 12 – 016 AK:_

* * *

_We should be heading back home soon, but it is possible I won't be able to. Somehow Orochimaru found a way to shorten the time between uses of his jutsu which means he can use it in about 5 days. Therefore I just got an idea. We are just barely outside of Sound right now and the only reason Sasuke is with him is he thinks he will get the power he wants, but the only way to do that is for him to kill his best friend or family, and I'm the closest thing he has to that. What I'm about to do may cost me my life, but there is a chance it won't and I'll take that chance to bring him back, people love him in Konoha, and everyone needs love. I hope to see Konoha again, but if I don't, I hope I see my friends in the next life. Please everyone take care of yourselves, and if you find this, please give it to the person that knows me best._

'What were you planning Naruto-kun? I really want to know how you let this happen without destroying half the area.' Hinata was about to shut the book but caught a glimpse of something out of the ordinary with one of the pages. 'What? Is this a chakra sensitive page?' Hinata channeled a bit of chakra into the page and a message revealed itself.

_Hinata – _

_I really hope you aren't reading this since it means I didn't come back from my stupid plan. I'm sure it is you that got this journal since you always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking and as such you knew me best. I figured you were most likely the person watching me all these years, and I thank you. Your calming presence is what got me through those times I felt worthless. I really would give anything to have you here to say something to get my hope back like you did before the chuunin exam, or at least be near so I feel that calm you bring. I feel like something wont go right when I chase Sasuke, but I must get him back, if I don't Orochimaru will be undefeatable and I cannot allow that to happen. _

_I'm sorry I couldn't see you and tell you about the things I feel. I never really realized how much you pop up in my life and now after looking back I feel you are a big part of it. I really wish I could figure out these things I have been feeling when I think of you, but I don't want to make things worse by telling you about it. I really wish you weren't reading this. I hope you can move on and have a happy life with someone, you deserve to be happy and I can't be there to do it. You never had to try so hard to get my attention, I already know you are the strongest kunoichi of our generation and make sure you believe that, and keep trying to get stronger. As my last written words I want you to promise that you will continue training to get stronger, and please find someone to love and have a happy life. Just promise me this and I know you will do it since we both live by the same ninja way._

'Naruto-kun, why? I really needed you I don't know how to love someone else, but for you I need to move on…' "I promise I will try to move on… I'll try to live without you." Hinata curled up on her bed hugging the journal and cried her eyes out. She stayed in her room for most of the day drowning in her sorrow until she couldn't possibly create another tear. Dragging herself from her bed she walked out to find a place to train to cause physical pain to hide her emotional pain.

* * *

...Later


	5. Chapter 5

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

(Konoha) July 22 - 016AK:

* * *

About a month has passed since the funeral. The village just started to get back to normal as everyone was being issued missions again from their time off, but there were some people a bit apprehensive about starting; one of which was Kiba. Walking up to the nurse's station at the Konoha hospital he found exactly who he was looking for. Chatting away with one of the other nurses was the slim figured pink haired medic he needed a moment with.

"Hey Sakura, I need to speak to you." He called out drawing her attention.

"Huh, Kiba?" she replied dumfounded since she never talked to him. "What do you need to talk about?"

"Hinata." Was his solemn reply.

"Well I think it is a little early to ask her out on a date Kiba." She retorted angrily, "I wont help with that!" She turned away from him after yelling. "Why do they always come to me about this stuff?" she asked no one in particular.

"No, Sakura, it isn't about that, I just think she is trying to hurt herself."

"What!? Tell me more Kiba, out with it!" she screamed as she turned to him once more.

"Ever since a few days after the funeral she has been training hard."

"I don't see what is so horrible about that," she interrupted before he finished. Kiba was slightly irritated at her interruptions but just sighed.

"Let me finish. I'm not talking normal hard, I'm talking Lee hard. I just talked to Hanabi and according to her Hinata has either come home nearly dead on her feet, or was carried back by Neji. She even said that Hinata has been crying herself to sleep hugging that journal every night. I need you to talk to her, I'm afraid that if she doesn't find a way to cope with her feelings that she might not return from our next mission."

"Ah crap… Sorry Kiba, I'll take care of it, but I'll need some reinforcements."

"Thank you, I'll owe you one."

"Nope, you don't owe me a thing; I'm doing this for her, not you." Sakura took off to find her help, since this was officially an emergency.

* * *

A group of 4 beautiful, young women marched through the streets of Konoha with a purpose. Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and even Ayame from the ramen shop were accompanied by a rather large box of cinnamon rolls. They all became friends over the past few years since they tended to frequent the ramen shop seing as how everyone missed the presence of the blonde. When the four women came upon Hinata's favorite training ground there were terrified at what they saw, it was almost like a female Lee with the way she was striking at the targets with no regard for her safety since the stumps clearly had a pink tinge to them. They quickly ran to her to get her to stop.

"Hinata, we need to talk." Sakura announced in a soft and friendly voice.

"Can't training." Was her dry reply as she kept striking at the target with her bloodied hands.

"I'm afraid it isn't up for debate Hinata, stop and let's talk."

"No Sakura, I have training to do, leave me alone." Hinata never stopped or even turned around but just kept up her strikes.

"I'm sorry Hinata," sadly Sakura drew back her hand and sent it flying across her delicate face (Slapped not punched). "STOP HINATA! Can't you see what you are doing to yourself?" Sakura yelled. Hinata was now wide eyed looking at the serious, but sad face of her friend. She finally gave in and fell to her knees in tears. Her pale eyes continued flowing as her sorrowful wails continued. Sakura motioned to the others to come and help her out with the little mess of emotions while Sakura immediately healed her bleeding hands.

"Why Sakura, why does it have to hurt so much?" pleaded the teary face Hyuuga, before she could answer Ayame stunned the group by speaking first.

"Pain is connected to the love of the person that is lost. The more love you have for the person, the more pain exists at their loss. That is why it hurts so much, it is because you loved so much."

"But how can I make it stop, how can I forget it?"

"You will never forget Hinata, this I truly know." Cut in Sakura.

"But, talking about it may take the edge off." Tenten stated with a little smile

"Ah true, but nothing helps like the comfort of some pure sugar!" Ino declared and pulled out the box of rolls and handed them to Hinata getting a slight smile from the distraught girl. They all talked a bit until amazingly the box went empty, it was a huge box meaning Hinata managed to eat half. Feeling a bit more at ease, Hinata decided to take her leave. Standing up she felt 2 arms hook into hers.

"Oh no you don't, "commanded Sakura

"We aren't through with you quite yet girl." Chimed Ino as the 4 giggled dragging a refusing, but not too refusing, Hyuuga girl off in to the village streets disappearing into the crowd to never be seen again… Oops I mean to live happily ever after… No, that isn't right either… Um… Oh I got it, they disappeared to do what ever the hell girls do when they drag someone off like that, your guess is as good as mine.

* * *

(Oh how Time passes so quickly – Time jumps with stopping in every so often )

* * *

Hinata found it slightly easier to live with herself knowing that her pain was normal and was meant to be there, but it still hurt her worse than when she lost her mother all those years back. Hinata never went back to her usual self, but who could really blame her. Her extreme kindness faded away bringing her closer and closer to her clan's idea of a great heir, but many saw it as loosing an exceptional soul. As her kindness faded, so did her tendency for self sacrifice, an honorable trait for ninja, but not for a clan heir. If the clan realized what impact loosing the demon brat would have made of her, they would have killed him off much earlier; for the clan, she was becoming perfect bit by bit.

Hinata wasn't seen smiling or even remotely happy at all, it was just training and missions for her, but behind her locked door of her room, it was a bit different. Sakura managed to score her some bright orange clothes, one of his black and orange outfits, which she would wear every night as she went to sleep hugging her precious journal. She had a tendency to smile while sleeping as her dreams would take her back to the person she wanted to be with, but she always knew they would end causing some pain to hit her, but for just that moment of being with him, she would never wish the dreams away.

A few more months carried on and Hinata continued to grow cold to cope with her never-ending pain, but else where, the village seemed to be moving in a more favorable fashion. The last Uchiha was reinstated to the ranks as chuunin only after being back for 4 months. Under the copy ninja's tutelage, he was finding that he was getting closer and closer to his ultimate goal.

* * *

Another jump of about 6 months (9 months from funeral) and more things have changed. Sasuke has become a Jonin but better still is there was actually a human under his cold exterior. Much to Sakura's delight, he showed her he was human by asking officially to court her, and how could she disagree. Sakura not only got what she always wanted, but she was also promoted to the head of the hospital so Tsunade could focus more on her Hokage duties. Sakura's smile never fell from her face as she realized life couldn't get any better, but the smile always faltered when she passed a certain dark haired girl while on a date with Sasuke, it almost always got ugly then.

With all the once young genins approaching full adulthood, they all saw much less of each other. Shikamaru spent most of his time running missions to Suna, now most would say that it might be too troublesome to do these missions, but for him it would be even more troublesome if he didn't. Ino could almost always be seen at her family's flower shop, most recently in the presence of a Sasuke look-alike that always seemed to be drawing pictures of the flowers while they attempted a conversation. And then you have Choji, well he just managed to keep stuffing his face and getting fat… er I mean further away from anorexia.

You could never find Shino anymore since he was almost always away on some clan business that was rumored to be in fulfillment of an arranged marriage. Kiba of course, like many other dogs, was mostly just chasing after any and all women for some enjoyment between missions, and because his mother was getting after him to find someone to continue the clan with. His mother even once suggested him to date Hinata, but that was shot down faster than Jiraiya's advances with Tsunade, since the same reaction would probably happen. And then you have Hinata. She was still very much a cold person, but the clan was happy with her progress.

Next we have Lee. He was of course married to his training and found there really wasn't a need for women in his life, besides according to him, if Gai's youthful flames didn't need to be joined by a female, than why does his. Now then this brings us to Neji. He clearly was the strangest in how his personality evolved. For every step colder Hinata got, he got warmer. Of course he wasn't going around smiling and greeting everyone on the street, but occasionally you would see him eyeing his female teammate, and if you really watched them, you may even see them share a kiss between them. His relationship was never made official, since he wasn't allowed to be courting while the heiress remained unwed.

* * *

While all this happened, time moved forward in Iwa as well (well duh). Rantou, the new wind master, was adjusting to his life of nobility. About 6 months ago, his chakra level stabilized and hasn't missed the evening meal since. His ability with the chakra amplifier weapon was so advanced that he needed his made into a separating device. His weapon appears as a hilt to a sword and when chakra is forced into it, it takes the appearance of a large blade, like usual weapons of that type, but his extreme amount of chakra he can divide the hilt in two and have twin chakra swords.

Apparently Rantou became a well sought after male in the world of marriages. Currently he has to refuse about 3 requests for courtship per week due to his popularity. Most of his success in that area comes from his performance on missions which was known to all that had access to the noble's files. Since he managed to complete his training earlier than expected he started into running missions to maybe find something about himself, but always came up empty. His status as a wind master was well deserved since there is no longer a single wind jutsu in Iwa that is unknown to him, not like there were many, but there were still some good ones. Although his travels found him no information on his memories, he did have quite the collection of cash from completing 5 C rank, 5 B rank, 13A rank, and with a team, 14 A and 3 S rank missions. Due to his exceptional success in missions Iwa has never been requested for so many missions since the last secret war, so obviously the wind master has been paying off.

* * *

(Konoha) April 18 – 017 AK – Midday (slowing time down a bit no more huge jumps... maybe)

* * *

Hinata was returning home after another successful mission like the usual now, and was met at the gate by a branch member of her clan.

"Hinata-sama, your presence is requested in Hiashi-sama's study, you are to go there immediately upon arrival." relayed the older Hyuuga member

"Fine." Was her quick and firm reply. She went to the Hyuuga estate and negotiated the halls until she arrived at the door to her father's study. Giving a firm knock, she was greeted by none other than the current clan head. Entering the large study, she noticed the clan council was all gathered there around the perimeter of the room. Hanabi was currently kneeling at the center while Hiashi motioned for her to take up the spot next to her sister and started addressing the group after she was situated.

"Hinata, Hanabi, the council and I have been in discussion this week on who to award the position of heir. We have extensively reviewed the efforts of each candidate through past actions to current. Therefore upon fulfillment of standard Hyuuga protocol we have chosen… Hinata as heir. Congratulations daughter, I am proud." Hiashi's declaration was exactly what Hinata has always wanted to hear but she felt nothing, no happiness was felt from the acceptance she always wanted.

"Thank you father, elders. May I ask what the standard protocol you were referring to?" HInata asked uncaringly.

"Yes, straight to business I see… On your 17th birthday you will be presented with a choice of 4 potential men for your betrothal." Hinata's disgust was apparent, but Hiashi continued anyways. "Since there are no Hyuuga members within your age that is of distant enough relation, we will locate one outside the clan. Within a months time afterwards, you will need to choose one of the 4 to be married to by the time you're 18, but you wont be allowed the full title of heir until you produce a strong Byakugan wielding child of your own due to marring outside of the clan. If you are unable to produce one by the time you're 23 you will be replaced and the title will go to your sister since she already has a betrothal to a Hyuuga. Do you understand your duties Hinata?" For a moment Hinata remembered images of one of her dreams of a pale eyed blonde haired child sleeping in her arms, but she quickly kicked it to the back of her mind before a blush or tears made it to the surface.

"Yes father"

"Very well, you may retire to your room for the rest of the evening." Hinata and her sister left the study, as well as the rest of the council, leaving Hiashi to his underhanded thoughts. 'Now then all I need to do is find some men that will be sterile to our bloodline.' Hiashi grabs the scroll of all eligible nobles and only finds two that would fit the bill. 'Well since there is only two, the other two need to be a horrible match forcing her choice to the others. With no way of conceiving a heir, Hanabi will be put to her rightful place and Hinata will be reduced to nothing' Once Hiashi's plan was finalized, he set off to turn in for the night not even noticing the dark shadow disappearing into the halls chuckling to itself. (note the last phrase, it is important, you will see something like this again)

* * *

(Iwa) June 8 – 017 AK – Evening

* * *

It was a warm clear summer night in Iwa as the tan haired grey eyed wind master returned from a 2 week mission to locate and eliminate 3 missing nins. The mission was a success, but Rantou was still a little upset that he needed to use the full force of his twin swords, but they all died by his hand, so no one has yet really lived to see the full power of his swords, aside from those he trained with. He made his way into the entry of the Kage's mansion, where he still lives, and was greeted by his usual helper.

"Rantou-sama, we have 7 more of the usual requests."

"Hmm, that's more than usual, anything special?"

"Well, actually, yes. You have received a high level request from Konohakagure for a Dec 27 meeting." (is it Konohakagure or Konohagagure? Who really cares, it isn't english, maybe I'll stick with Konoha)

"That is a little different, I guess I'll write the declination letter myself then."

"Actually Rantou-sama, this is a request that out ranks your status. Because of the weak alliance between our two villages your presence is mandatory, but the clan mistress will have her choice between 4 possible men, so it shouldn't be too hard to avoid that if you want. Santen-sama has been requested as well, so you'll have a bit of familar company."

"So, what do we know of this clan?"

"Nothing much really other than it is a bloodline clan." This statement got the attention of the wind master.

"Well isn't that strange? For a bloodline clan, they would never want to recruit Santen since he has an anti-bloodline gene that would prevent the passing of the traits of a bloodline. That would be disastrous for a clan that relies on their bloodline. It sounds like I should go just to at least figure that out. So then when should I leave?"

"It is suggested that you get there about a month ahead of time to get a mandatory mental evaluation by the Hokage. You will then be under watch so you won't be able to have unfair time with the mistress." Rantou nodded showing he understood the details.

"I guess it's settled then, we go to Konoha in 5 months."

* * *

(Konoha) Oct 10 – 017 AK – Evening (3 months from last segment)

* * *

October 10, the day the Yondaime lost his life to save the village from the Kyuubi. Since the heavy losses on that day, for the past 16 years it has become the only day the Hokage calls off all missions in memory of all lost ninja. For a few of the ninja within the village, this day holds just a little more pain since it was also the birthday of one ninja that never returned to their ranks. Like every year since his death, the group of people who really knew him would gather together, but for some reason Hinata didn't hold the usual look, this year something else was on her mind.

This look of course didn't go unnoticed by her closest friends and acquaintances. The women of the group saw that the heiress needed to talk about something, and usually it had something to do with the lost blonde. Taking it upon themselves, the women took Hinata to a secluded area of town to speak. Of course she struggled to be left alone, but she couldn't get away from the strength of the Hokage who was joining them.

"So, tell us Hinata, what has you further in the dumps than usual?" questioned Tsunade.

"It really doesn't concern you." Was Hinata's rude reply as she looked away from her.

"How could anything that could interfere with missions be of no concern to me?" Tsunade snapped before calming herself and tried again in her soft caring tone. "Most of all, I feel like a mother to all of you. I've seen you all grow, cry and laugh together for many years. You know we all care for you Hinata and we hate to see the path you are going down. You have separated yourself from nearly everyone and have become an empty shell of what you once were. I have seen this occur more times than I have ever wanted, and it usually ends with a person's suicide." Her words created a solemn atmosphere where no one wanted to speak. This ending wasn't one most would speak of, but no one could deny the possibility.

When Hinata spoke is was almost silent. Her head was bowed looking at the ground "If suicide was an option, I would have taken it already. I have thought about it over a dozen times just to make my hurting stop." Normally the women wouldn't be surprised if the thought came across her mind once or twice, but being over a dozen, they were speechless and quite scared for the girl. "I am still here because I made a promise on his memory. In his journal, he specifically asked me to promise him that I would live my life and try to be happy and because of that promise, he is still keeping me alive even though he isn't here anymore." Tears poured down her face again, but the women were relieved that she wouldn't take her life since she never breaks her promises.

"That does account for a lot of things, but what has changed so recently that has you down even more?" asked Sakura. Hinata looked at the group and knew she wouldn't get away without spilling, so she decided to give in to their requests.

"It feels like I'm betraying his memory and it hurts me so much."

"What makes you feel like you are betraying him?" asked Tenten as the grilling continued.

"In a little over a year, I'm getting married." Not taking in the whole concept of it Ino jumped up hugging the sad girl.

"Really, Hinata? That's wonderful, who's the lucky man?" Ino then realized what she was doing and nearly sank into the ground in embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok. It really should be good news in normal cases, but my clan isn't normal. Since there isn't anyone of Hyuuga decent near my age I will have to choose from 4 hand picked nobles from other lands, but I will only have one month to choose which I will marry and then I'll have to be around him every day from then on."

"Only one month to find love!?" shouted Ino, again without thinking.

"No, Ino, I think I can only love once, this will just be something I do for the clan, nothing more."

"Well that may be true, but don't think it doesn't matter. If you pick someone that doesn't respect you, you could end up being sexually abused. Since you will still need to have sex with him to have a child, you will need at least a good man that wouldn't hurt you." Ayame informed her almost like she has seen an abusive relationship before.(not her parents). Hinata started sobbing again as she realized that information. Her cold attitude fell along with her tears as she cried ,showing a glimpse of the real Hinata trapped in the sorrow.

"Hey, don't worry, when they come in for their mental evaluation we'll check out some other things for you since men tend to hide their true intentions until it is too late. They can't hide themselves from a Yamanaka." Ino informed them in a bragging like voice.

"Thank you Ino, all you guys mean a lot to me, I'd never get through any of this without you." The group of women all gave Hinata a hug of encouragement before they headed back to where the others were still at to continue having what fun they could together.

* * *

...Later


	6. Chapter 6

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

(Iwa) Nov 29 – 017 AK – Morning

* * *

"Well Kenji-san, I guess we should get going for Konoha, It'll be quite the trip… Hey Santen! Get your womanizing ass down here."

"Well Rantou, my boy, try to keep him in line ok." Commented Kenji, the Tsuchikage

"Yeah, I'll try." Just then Santen came running into the street next to him.

"I'm here already. I just needed to tell a few people I was leaving."

"Yeah, whatever, why did you pack so light? We'll be gone for a month at least." The wind master commented

"Heh, heh. Not like I'll need many clothes where we are going. Know what I mean?" he said while elbowing Rantou.

"Whatever… see you later Kenji." Rantou called out his goodbye and started on his way out of the village with Santen having to catch up.

* * *

They had a relatively uneventful trip from Iwa. There weren't any trouble to run into, it was just easy going for the two esteemed travelers. They made exceptionally good time since they didn't stop unless it was to eat or sleep, Santen was rather irritated at this, but knew to keep his mouth shut. When the gates of Konoha came into view, Santen stopped when he saw more than the usual amount of guards.

"Hey Rantou, it appears as though security has been stepped up since the last time we were here on a mission. Do you think that is because of our arrival?" Santen waited for a response, but realized he just ignored whatever he was saying and was almost at the gate already. He took off after Rantou and caught up to him again by the time they reached the gate and met with the guards.

"Travelers, state your business and produce your identification." Ordered a rather pissed looking ninja.

"I am Rantou here with Hitaro Santen hailing from Iwa under invitation." Rantou and Santen pulled out their IDs and their invitation and presented them to the guards.

"Well everything seems to be in order here; one of the guards will show you to the Hokage." They received their IDs and invitation back and followed the guard as he led them through the village until they ended at the office of the fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

"Greetings delegates from Iwa. I am Tsunade and welcome to Konoha. I hope you enjoy your stay." Her face fell from the cheery greeting to one of more important business. "Unfortunately since this is an extended stay, you each must go through a series of questions and even a minor interrogation to be sure you aren't spies. I apologize for this, but it is protocol." Well Tsunade wasn't lying about everything since the protocol was at her discression.

"Understood Hokage-sama." Rantou answered while trying to fight back the uncontrollable urge to call her baa-chan and not knowing why.

"Very well, go find room 2C and wait there until you are summoned individually for questioning." Seeing the conversation was over, they decided to leave and find that room.

* * *

The two sat waiting in the spacious room for nearly an hour before a thin blonde female came to greet them. "Hello, my name is Ino, and I'll be helping in your torture, uh I mean, interrogation." Ino gave them a sweet but sinister smile and grabbed Santen's arm and drug him out of the room. Rantou figured the questioning would probably take a little while and decided to relax a bit and maybe get in a short nap. He was abruptly woken from his nap, which seemed like moments later, when the door slammed open revealing a bruised and battered Santen falling to the ground.

"If that is minor interrogation, then what is normal?" Rantou asked as he got out of his chair and stepped over his friend.

"That actually wasn't caused by the interrogation, that was from him making a pass at me and asking if I would join him at a local hotel." Ino replied with disgust.

"That sounds about right for him, shall we get going then?" She nodded and led him down a staircase leading to below the Hokage tower. They turned down a dark corridor and past a few rooms where you could hear screams emanating from them. Since it wasn't his business, he shrugged it off and followed the blonde into a room with plush furniture, more reminiscent of a psychologist's office. Rantou was surprised that there was also an audience in the room. He saw a female with red eyes, and a silver haired guy with half his face covered with a mask, and of course the Hokage.

"Hmm, what do I owe the pleasure of all your presences?" Rantou asked in a less than pleased tone.

"Zip it kid, I don't like the reason you are here." Tsunade, clearly pissed, explained more "You see the female you are here for means a lot to us and the village. Personally I believe she should have been with someone else, but his time in this world was cut short. We really don't like how her stupid clan has played matchmaker bringing in people from outside the village, so it is our duty to know everything about you. You are the last of the 4 here and so far we are disgusted with this generation of men. You don't appear to be any different than those others, so I would send all of you bastards back where you came, but I can't do that, so let's get this over with."

"Have fun figuring me out. I'm positive I'm not normal." he told them without the slightest form of joking.

"Alright mister confident, let's begin." Tsunade turned on the surveillance equipment and started to read his facts to the camera for the record. "Rantou approximate age 17 birthday is unknown?" raising just an eyebrow in interest Tsunade continued reading. "Current noble of Iwa; mission stats: 5 C, 20 B, 37A, and 2 S rank missions with no failed missions?" If the room wasn't all sitting, they would have fallen in surprise.

"How does one complete so many high rank missions without a single D rank?" inquired the masked ninja speaking out of turn.

"Kakashi, you shouldn't interrupt like that, but I am curious as well, so please answer the question." Ordered Tsunade.

"Fine, it's an easy answer. The first mission I remember going on was about a year ago and I've been doing missions non stop since. I was considered a Jonin at that time, but I am not an official Jonin." His answer brought more amazed looks since he has completed more missions in a single year than most have in their life.

"What do you mean by the first mission you remember?" Tsunade asked.

"Simply put, I don't have memories beyond about 2 years ago. I have been running missions to find out about where I come from so I may return to my village, but I have found nothing."

"That seems way too convenient. Would you mind being subjected to a memory viewing jutsu? It will allow us to see into your memories and validate your claim." inquired the Hokage

"I get a strange feeling that I don't really have that choice, but go ahead. If you find out anything interesting let me know."

"Very well, and you were correct you didn't have a choice. Ino, you may proceed." the busty woman commanded.

With a nod the blonde did a few hand signs and entered the wind master's mind. Ino was expecting the usual vertigo when adjusting to the mindscape, but apparently there was no resistance by his mind so it lasted a very short time, which surprised the mind walker greatly. Ino continued on into his mind until she collected all the information she needed and released her jutsu and returned to her own mind.

"Hokage-sama, it appears that he is telling the truth. I see no reason for concern with his presence in Konoha." Tsunade saw that Ino wanted to say more, but she really couldn't figure out how to say it.

"Very well then, I see no reason to keep you here further. Rantou, I here by permit you access to Konoha as a liaison from Iwa. Kakashi, Kurenai, please escort our guest on your way out. Reluctantly the two Jonin left the room leading Rantou back the way they came. Shutting the door after they left, Ino turned to the Hokage knowing what she was going to ask her.

"Ino, what was it you saw in there that you aren't telling me."

"Well it's his mind… it is the weirdest thing I've ever seen. There are some things that exist in every person's mind that just wasn't there. Also there are usually memories people lock away from the others, like secrets, but his mind is an open book. Let me explain how nearly all people's mind look.

Depending on the person the mindscape changes, but the usual outline is the same. Every thing is an open expanse whether it is a large room or field, the larger the main room usually means the larger the intelligence. This main room reflects the personality of the person. For Hinata it was always a field of flowers and lush grasses, and for Shikamaru it was always just open sky with clouds. Now inside this area there will be various memories that can't be categorized by feelings and is filed similar to a filing cabinet that takes on the area's characteristics, like the flowers in Hinata's are like the drawers of the cabinet.

Then there are large doors at the edges of the area that lead to the sub rooms where memories are sorted based on inner feelings. There is usually a room for Anger, Love, Happiness, Sadness and a room for secrets. In some rare cases you can even get special rooms connecting to those main feeling rooms like Sasuke has a room of Hate leading from the Anger room that is in existence just to house the hate he has of his brother. There are many other combinations that make more of these special rooms, but one I have only seen once is the one that connects to the Love room, a place born from where the love for a person is so strong it needs it's own room. These special rooms have a connection with the person they love and the two are usually considered as soul mates, ones destined to be together. I don't know what the meaning is of it, but Hinata has one of these rooms in her mind which means she is destined to be with that guy, but since she never was able to, it should be impossible to have it.

Anyways that is how mindscapes work, but with Rantou, things are different. His main room is devoid of light yet it isn't dark and the memories that belong in the room are few but they are supposed to be in the file cabinets, but instead there are boxes holding the memories like they are waiting to be filed. It is like a mind that hasn't been finished yet, and there are no other rooms like normal. This basically means he has no secrets but also no real feelings either. He just doesn't make sense."

"That is indeed very interesting Ino, we should keep an eye on him, since from what you say, or didn't say, he will most likely be the one chosen since he isn't perverted like the rest. We won't tell Hinata this yet just to see who she will choose on her own. But I may need to check on why Hiashi would personally choose 3 womanizers and one halfway decent person full knowing she would choose him. Alright Ino, you're finished here, you may go home."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Ino left the room the moment Tsunade pulled out the saké to ease her struggles of her mind.

* * *

(Konoha) Dec 27– 017 AK – Midmorning

* * *

The next month passed by slowly and the 4 guests were only allowed outside their dwellings on occasional days and most nights that would coincide with when Hinata was away. Most of the time, even when they were allowed outside, the four weren't in contact with each other to keep them from trying to eliminate each other, just in case. Today was the day that all four are to meet with the young woman, and being trapped in a room for a month was weighing on some nerves.

"Alright in just a few hours I won't be trapped like I'm in a prison, I need to do something or I'll go nuts!" Screamed Rantou before he heard a knock at his door.

"Hey man, it's time to get going. It's 10am already and everyone is getting ready. They brought in formal clothes that were approved for the party in the common room." Called out Santen through the unopened door.

"Alright, I'm going. You don't need to be so loud about it." (and he was the one just screaming...) Santen took off quickly to the common room to find what he was going to wear with Rantou following a few minutes behind.

Walking into the large room, there was complete chaos. The three other guys were throwing clothes about, each one arguing who was going to be _with_ the maiden first. (Dirty bastards) Every time one person decided on a garment, the others would yell out that they saw it first and would each grab a hold of it tearing it in 3 ways. So far the 'children' have torn 10 items making them completely worthless while the 4 servants hired to help them were all staring at their horrible behavior. One of the servants was even mumbling "the master won't be pleased" over and over again. Rantou then noticed an old women just standing far from the mess just shaking her head in disgust.

"Hey Baa-san, what's with the idiots?" he asked gesturing to the chaos effectively snapping her out of her trance.

"Oh I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention. Are you the last of the circus?" obviously she wasn't pleased with the action going on in the room.

"Actually by the looks of it, I'm the first of the civilized people. Do you think you could send for me when the morons are done? I prefer to wear undamaged clothing. I'll be in my room until then." Not really waiting for an answer Rantou turned and left the room to return to his sleeping quarters, surprising the old lady by his selflessness and immediately she knew he wasn't like the others. Moments after closing the door to his room he heard a knock and was quite surprised to see the old lady so soon.

"They done already? I thought it would be another 20 minutes at least."

"No, I'm afraid it isn't. Oh I'm sorry where are my manners? My name is Ishia, I'm the seamstress hired for this occasion." With a smile she pulled a small package from behind her. "I have one garment I kept aside to sell at my shop since it turned out so nicely, but since you seem to be well mannered, I feel you just might be able to appreciate this more than the others." She pulled the garment from the package revealing a grey, male formal, kimono with black and orange accented flames licking up the sides.

"I'm sure it is quite colorful, but I can only see in shades of grey, so I won't be able to appreciate it like I should."

"Nonsense child, I think it will look perfect on you. You don't need to see colors to admire craftsmanship." Rantou took possession of the outfit and bowed slightly to the lady in gratitude. With a matching bow, the lady left him to get dressed. It took the others another 30 minutes before they all had clothing and were dressed. At about noon a Hyuuga branch member arrived and escorted the 4 young men through the village to the Hyuuga manor.

* * *

(Hyuuga manor) Dec 27– 017 AK 12:00 - noon

* * *

"Hinata-sama, it is almost time, are you ready?"

"You can come in if you want Neji-nii-san." When he entered he could only smile as he looked at his cousin.

"You look quite beautiful Hinata-sama." Her dark blue hair flowed down her shoulders stopping at about the middle of her back. Showing off the contrast to her elegant white multi layered kimono with lavender flowers printed along the hems of the outfit.

"Thank you Neji-nii-san. I guess I need to go now then don't I?" Hinata showed no emotion as she stood from her desk making to leave her room.

"You aren't leaving here like that are you?" Hinata looked down in slight disappointment thinking that something was wrong with her appearance but then noticed what was in her arms. A deep blush formed on her face and she embarrassingly squeaked and stuffed the journal into the nearby drawer. "At least I know you are still inside that cold shell Hinata-sama." Neji gently grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her room towards the party. She arrived at the top of the stairs leading down to where the party room was almost filled with people. Somehow the crowd quieted down when she arrived without any one gesturing to do so. Every one looked to her, except Rantou, waiting for the announcement.

"Announcing Miss Hyuuga, heiress of the Hyuuga clan. It is an honor for all of us to celebrate your 17th birthday with you, welcome." Hinata slightly bowed to the announcer and gracefully descended the stairs with Neji still escorting her.

"Nii-san, I don't want to be here anymore. I can't marry without love, it feels wrong." She whispered in his ear feeling very apprehensive of the situation.

"Well just try to love one of them before you get married, alright?"

"It isn't that simple. I poured all my love into another; I don't think there is anything left."

"Hinata-sama, you may be right, but you won't know until you at least try. Besides you need to do this for the clan."

"I know… can you at least tell me anything about the guys then?" She asked trying to slow the decent down the stairs.

"I can tell you what I know. Hisen is from water country. His skills of deception and stealth are the best of the village and he is from the richest of non bloodline clans. Ashten is the son of a daimo of grass country and it is unknown if he is even a ninja. Santen is the son of the current Tsuchikage; currently he is classed as a special chuunin, and it is unknown why he has never tried for Jonin rank. The last is Rantou. Nothing is known of his past since he just appeared about 2 years ago with unusual talents. Currently he lives in Iwa with the Kage, but he wears a blank forehead protector showing allegiance to no village. He is only declared a noble of Iwa because he is an elemental master of wind and elemental masters are considered as such by their laws."

"That isn't much to go on. How am I supposed to choose one in a month?"

"You could always let your friends choose for you, they may be able to pick out the best."

"I don't know… something just doesn't feel…" Hinata couldn't finish her sentence since her father cut in.

"Hinata, you should stop wasting your time here. You should go meet with your suitors and spend some time with them since you will be marrying one of them, understood?" he basically commanded.

"Yes father." Hinata slowly made her way to where the suitors were located leaving Hiashi to bask in his devious scheme 'Good luck Hinata, three perverts and an emotion less wind master I was expecting two perverts but this should be absolute torture for you to find a husband and then you'll never bear a child with the bloodline.'

* * *

"Hey Rantou, did you get a load of her? She is so hot. To think one of us is going to get that. Man even if I don't get her in the end, I'll at least get a piece of that. What about you buddy?" Santen looked over to his friend who wasn't paying any attention.

"Huh? You say something Santen? I was just meditating; I just want to get out of here. Do you think they would allow me to leave before the month is up?"

"Are you crazy? Do you even know what she looks like?"

"Nope, nor do I really care."

"Well you should, she's coming this way, we should go meet her bro."

"Nah, I'm good here. You go and do whatever it is you do." Rantou suggested as he waved him off.

"Dude, I really wonder if you even like girls." Santen got no response from him as he was back into meditation. Shrugging it off he ran to join the rest of the guys for introductions.

* * *

"Miss Hyuuga, it is a privilege and an honor to meet such a beautiful maiden." Taking her hand and kissing it he introduced himself, "My name is Hosenki Ashten."

"Thank you for the compliment." Hinata forced a smile and moved to the next guy who was going to try and out do the first.

"Miss Hyuuga-sama, I am pleased and humbled to be in the presence of such beauty." He snaps his fingers and a bouquet of flowers appear, "My name is Kamera Hisen, and these are for you." She accepts the flowers with a small smile.

"Thank you Hisen-san, the flowers are quite elegant." She said almost robotically.

"Miss Hyuuga-sama, I too am honored to lay eyes on such a beautiful woman. You truly out shine all the others with your elegance. My name is Yoshiro Santen."

"Your compliments are well received Santen-san" she forced another smile but it was much harder since she was irritated since every word the three said had some sort of lie in them. She didn't have much time to do anything before the three pulled her to a nearby couch and started talking about themselves to impress her.

(Please note that none of the guys know her first name and just refer to her as Miss Hyuuga)

Hinata was there for maybe an hour just politely nodding her head and trying to smile, all the while brushing their hands of her legs and shoulders. 'what is wrong with these guys, I've only met them and hour ago and they already are trying to make passes at me, what do they really expect' Hinata shuddered when she thought about what exactly they wanted and was equally disgusted. 'these three are weirding me out… wait three? Where's the other one?'

"Excuse me guys, I need to go freshen up a bit." Hinata stood up and quickly left the uncomfortable situation she was in to look for Neji, who she found easily.

"Neji-nii-san, are all of them here? I've only met three and they are all jerks, if the last isn't any better I will kill them all myself."

"Really? They were all here earlier. Which one haven't you met yet?"

"I believe it is that Rantou guy."

"Well you had better go meet him before the party ends or your father will be quite upset." Neji surveyed the party until he found the person. "He is the one over there with the grey outfit with the flames." Hinata gave a slight nod before she followed his gesture to find the last guy. She found her target sitting in a chair facing away from the party obviously uninterested. She decided to go and make her presence known to him at least so she has met them all.

"Excuse me sir." She quietly said to him while his back was turned to her.

"No thank you, I don't need any refreshments." He replied without opening his eyes. This of course caused some anger from the young Hyuuga. With more authority in her voice she spoke again.

"I would like to thank you for traveling so far at my _father's_ request." Her new statement made him realize just who he mistook for a servant. Quickly standing and facing where her voice was he started an apology.

"I'm sorry I didn't…" he stopped speaking the moment he saw her. He stared into her eyes and managed to bring a blush to her face from the attention, but he didn't notice the red color he saw.

'wait he's making me blush? No one has that power over me any more, maybe I'm getting sick.' She thought before pushing it away and speaking. "Is there something wrong with my appearance? You seem to be staring at me." Her question snapped him back into reality.

"Sorry, my apologies Hinata-sama, I just got lost in those pale lavender eyes of yours." 'Oh and that dark silky blue hair' he thought until something just hit him, he could see her in complete color. Hinata saw he was still staring but had a surprised look now on his face.

"Um, i-is there a p-problem R-Rantou-san?" Hinata was angry at her self, first she was blushing around him and now she's back to stuttering. She was completely stumped why this guy would bring about those actions that were always attributed to her one love. She couldn't possibly be feeling something for this guy already could she? Her thoughts on this were brought to a close when he spoke again.

"Hinata-sama, are you alright, you seem to be awfully red." Before she could answer Hiashi, who was eavesdropping, interrupted them with an angry face.

"Rantou-san, have you ever seen or talked to my daughter before?" he asked, clearly livid by his tone.

"No, lord Hyuuga, I haven't ever seen or talked to Hinata before."

"Then how did you know her name? She isn't allowed to speak her name on this day and it was to remain a secret until the official courting starts tomorrow."

"I don't really know why I knew her name. When she just appeared, my mind saw her and her name just popped into my head, but I have never seen her before." Hiashi sensed no trace of a lie, and no one has fooled his eyes so Hiashi just accepted it and walked away from them. Rantou looked over to where the other 3 suitors were and noticed their angered faces staring at them. "Hinata-sama, I believe you should probably go back to those three idiots. They look quite unhappy that I've been occupying your time by myself."

"Um, well, you could accompany me over there; you have just as much right to my attention as they do." She actually smiled a genuine smile after her statement.

"That is quite aright, I seem to have quite the headache coming on. I'll need to meditate a bit before I can handle those morons. We will talk again beautiful." Rantou sat back down while a blush came to her face again from his kind words. She reluctantly left him to his meditation and returned to the three vultures. 'Damn, how is she in color, I've never seen color. More so is why do I keep seeing her in my mind, why can't I get her out of my head? Her kind eyes, elegant face, her soft supple… Hey! Get a hold of yourself! I need to figure this out, she may be a part of my forgotten life and that is why I see her in color and why I felt something weird inside me.' Rantou continued meditating on that for the rest of the party while Hinata was having difficulty of her own since she was trying to devise a plan to kill 3 guys without anyone finding out. She was beyond relieved when the party was over, but it was short lasting as the five of them were escorted to a private room to speak with Hiashi and two of the clan elders.

* * *

"I have asked you all here so we may discuss the parameters of this betrothal. In a way it will be a contest. You will each have an equal amount of minimum time with her, but she may request a smaller meeting after each day for what ever she wants. At any time throughout the month, she may choose her husband, but at the end of the month if she hasn't chosen yet, she will be forced to do so. You will each draw numbers for what time frame you get to take her out. The times are 9am-noon, noon to 3pm, 3pm to 6pm and 6pm to 9pm." Hinata was pissed that her entire day was taken, leaving no time to train or anything, but there was little she could do. The numbers were all drawn and the results were: Hisen #2, Santen #1, Ashten #3 and Rantou was left with #4.

"Since that is all settled, you will all bid my daughter goodnight and you will then be shown to your rooms for the remainder of your stay. You will be living here in the manor so we can keep an eye on you." When Hiashi finished, he and the elders, left the room leaving the five alone. Seeing an opportunity to leave a lasting impression three of the four surrounded the heiress saying how beautiful she was and how they will think of her while they sleep and how they look forward to their date tomorrow. They each said about the same thing and left the room leaving Rantou and Hinata alone for a spell.

"I'm sorry for the idiots, I hope they didn't cause too much discomfort, sleep well Hinata-sama, I'd wish you a happy birthday, but after seeing those idiots it would be a waste."

"Um, R-Rantou-san, I, um… T-thank you, but c-could you not call me –sama? We are equal status." She stuttered out while blushing.

"Of course Hinata-chan." Rantou left the room and was escorted to his sleeping quarters leaving the dark haired girl many questions and a steady blush.

'Why to I stutter around him? I'm acting like I did around Naruto, and he even brings out those feeling in me again. He can't possibly replace him, but it just feels so weird almost like it is him. It's only 8:30, Sakura will still be awake, I can ask her for some advice.' Hinata took off out of the complex to seek out her answers elsewhere.

* * *

Santen caught up with Rantou, even though he left earlier, outside of his room in the branch house. "Hey bro, you see now? Man she is a looker. If she is half as good in bed as she looks, I'll be in heaven."

"Don't get your hopes up; she doesn't seem to be one to behave in that manner."

"Ah come on man you know I always tell you the best way to a woman's heart is though the bed room. Remember it, it is good advice."

"Santen, were you dropped on your head when you were young?" Santen didn't have time to reply since the wind master was gone in an instant.

* * *

...Later


	7. Chapter 7

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

Dec 27– 017 AK: 9:30pm (same day as Hinata's party)

* * *

Dragging herself down the street outside the Konoha Hospital, a certain pink haired medic was making her way home after a hard day's work of healing. She was thinting she was so tired that she started hearing things until she heard the sound again.

"Sakura-san…" called a quiet voice. Knowing it wasn't her imagination; she perked up and turned to the source of the voice.

"Oh Hinata…" Sakura was surprised to see her usual cold exterior absent, replaced with a small smile. "What's wrong, or right, with you? I haven't seen you smiling in years."

"Huh, What, I'm smiling?" the Hyuuga asked, surprised by this.

"Yes you are, and you might even be happy." Before Sakura could continue what she was going to say, she was interrupted.

"I desperately need to talk to you" Hinata blurted out borderline excitedly.

"Really now, what about?"

"Well it's um… feelings and stuff." She replied quietly

"Oh… we should go to my house." With a quick nod, the two silently walked to Sakura's house. Entering the house Sakura immediately set into making some tea to soothe them. After sitting back down with the tea, Sakura started her questioning.

"So Hinata, how did your party go?"

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about."

"No one took advantage of you right?"

"Well not exactly but…" Hinata started out with but was preempted.

"What do you mean by not exactly? I'll kill them all if they touched you improperly!"

"Quiet Sakura, you could wake the whole village." Sakura counted back from 10 trying to calm herself to continue the conversation. "Three of the guys father brought in are complete jerks. They continually made passes at me. It was like having three Jiraiyas around me for the night." Sakura cringed at that image while Hinata took a sip of her tea and continued her story. "But that isn't why I wanted to talk to you."

"What exactly did you want to talk to me about?" Sakura asked setting down her cup.

"What do you know about the guy Rantou?"

"Huh, Rantou?"

"Yes, the wind master from Iwa father sent for. I'm pretty sure you have overheard the Hokage talking about him during your training."

"Well, I might know something… why do you ask?" Sakura smiled knowing that was the source of her problem, and why she was smiling.

"Well I know nothing about him. He stays quiet and secluded from the others."

"Is he… handsome?" Hinata didn't say anything as a blush arrived on her face answering her question.

"I see, so that is why you want to talk." Nodding in confirmation Hinata started to talk again.

"He seems so kind but the problem I have is when I'm around him I blush and stutter like I would around _him_. I'm so confused now. When I look at Rantou he stirs up feelings I only had for _him_. I don't know if my feelings are truly for this guy of if he just reminds me of Naruto, it's so confusing." Hinata shrank back into her chair drinking her tea.

"I see… what would you do if those feeling are directed for him?"

"I really don't know Sakura."

"If I can prove to you that that those feelings are indeed for this Rantou guy, will you promise to grab a hold of that feeling and never let it go like the last one?" Hinata shed a few tears for the comment and thought about it for a while.

"I-I promise I will…" with a sinister smile Sakura grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her to the door.

"Come on we're going to Ino's."

"But why?"

"She can see your feelings in memories, so she can see where your feelings are directed." Hinata squeaked as she was yanked out the door and down the street a few blocks stopping outside Ino's house. Sakura started throwing rocks at her window until a light turned on.

"Hey Ino-pig, wake up!"

"Shut it forehead, I'm trying to sleep" she called back and turned off the light again.

"It's Hinata that needs help pig." They heard just silence until the front door flung open revealing the long haired blonde.

"Well why didn't you say so? Get in here you two, it's cold out here." Hurrying inside and closing the door, the three sat down and discussed the previous conversation.

* * *

"So let me get this straight, you would like information on your wind master, and you want to make sure what you feel is for him right?"

"Basically." Replied Hinata while Sakura smiled next to her.

"Well my guess is that you know almost as much about him as he does." Sakura and Hinata looked confused at this until Ino explained. "You see he has no memories except for the past two years which is all training and fighting, but something else that is weird is he is completely color blind." Hinata was surprised at that statement

"Are you sure? He made a comment about the color of my eyes, he said they were slightly lavender. And what else are you hiding?"

"That is strange, everything was black and white last time I was in his mind, but apparently I can't hide anything from you… In his mind the memory rooms aren't there. Even when a person has amnesia, the rooms still exist the memories are just darkened. From what I see, he may not be able to feel anything like happiness and love, but that is still all speculation."

"What does that mean?" asked Sakura

"Well I think that until he gains those rooms back he can't have feelings, basically it means he is emotion less."

"But how can we get them back?" asked a worried Hyuuga.

"I don't know, but I'll need to check him again to see if any progress was made in that area. Until then…" Ino put on an evil smile, "let's see where your feelings point." Before Hinata could protest Ino grabbed Sakura's hand and all three of the girls slumped back in their chairs.

* * *

The room was absolutely beautiful, if you could call it a room. Her intelligence was displayed in the vast openness of the flowery meadow with large trees lining the edges of the space. The most massive of the trees contained the doors into the rooms of emotion related memories.

"Ino-pig! Where the hell are we?"

"Easy forehead, this is Hinata's mindscape, the representation of her memories and feelings. As you can see she has the most calming mind created by her gentleness."

"Well yeah, but since when could you bring another person here with you?"

"I learned it about half a year ago, anyways, since all minds usually have the same set up, I'll be your guided tour. Normal memories are found in the flowers in this field, you just touch one and it opens into a file cabinet. The specific memories are in the rooms behind those doors in the trees. We will be going to her love door over there."

"What is that fancy door next to it?" Sakura asked while Ino led her to the door.

"That would be the rarest of all special rooms a room containing memories of a soul mate. From what I have seen, Hinata is the only one in Konoha that has one of these rooms. Of course inside this room are all the memories she has shared with Naruto."

"So all we need to do is go into her love room and see if this Rantou guy is in there?"

"That's the simple way to look at it." The two kunoichi stepped into the room, that was nearly identical to the larger one with the multicolored flowers, and immediately started searching through the memories. From the memories they found, it appears as though the feeling of love hasn't been felt by her in quite some time, but the search for anything of Rantou came up empty.

"Well I guess she really doesn't love him." Ino was about to leave but Sakura, being the nosy one, decided to stop her.

"Say, Ino. Have you ever wondered what exactly Hinata saw in him?"

"You know forehead, I've wondered that myself, care to check it out, our little secret?" the blonde replied with a smug grin.

"You're on." They entered the room and found a lush meadow like before, but the sun was at the point in the sky where and orange hue was cast about the field and all the flowers were yellow.

"Well I guess for her orange is the color of love… from who she loved, I guess that is fitting." Sakura commented. They went in and the first file they opened contained the first memory Hinata had of the blonde boy.

* * *

(Naruto about 7 yrs old)

* * *

The memory faded into a young blonde kid running. As he ran he continually looked behind him until he ended up in a quiet park and sat down to rest. Noticing the intrusion, a pale eyed girl stared at the boy with her cheeks flushing.

"Hinata-sama, what is it?" asked her Hyuuga guard ignoring her staring and the slight blush on her face. The guard of about 30 years old surveyed the area and saw the blonde boy and moved towards him laced with anger.

"You demon brat! You have no right to be here!" the Hyuuga charged forward striking the young boy with the Jyuken knocking him to the ground causing the two memory viewers to flinch.

"I've taken care of the intruder, he shouldn't be bothering us ever again." The old Hyuuga announced as he dusted off his hands and returned to the now crying girl.

"Why?" she cried out.

"He scared you, now he won't be bothering a single person again." Satisfied the Hyuuga guard picked up the bawling girl and carried her off. Suddenly a shout was heard from behind.

"Hey you white eyed bastard, go screw yourself! When I become Hokage, you'll be sorry!" the small blonde took off running leaving a small girl smiling widely still with tears on her cheeks.

* * *

"That bastard tried to kill him, he was barely 7!" screamed Sakura

"Sakura, it didn't look like he tried. For a moment I think he was dead… let's see if we can find something a bit happier, you look to the left, I'll look to the right." After searching through a few thousand memories Sakura called out from the other side of the room.

"Hey Ino! Do you think Hinata was a stalker? Since she started at the academy she knows everything that happened to him and even followed him home many times."

"No, this is Hinata we're talking about; I bet she was just trying to build up the courage to talk to him."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." A few moments later Ino called out for Sakura to look at what she found.

"Hey Sakura, I think I found something that isn't supposed to happen, the wind master guy is in this room. Two people can't share a room like this." Sakura stopped what she was doing and ran to Ino's side.

"What does that mean then?" Sakura asked.

"Well I guess it means that she loves him like she did Naruto, and I mean exactly like him. This shouldn't happen. I need to ask my parents about this, it should be impossible." Ino, finding what she came for released the jutsu and the three returned to consciousness minutes later.

* * *

"Well Hinata, it looks like you do have feelings for this guy." Shouted Ino happily.

"Yep, looks like you can't let this one slip through your fingers like you promised."

"Sure, thanks." Hinata stood to leave with her messed up feelings and just before she made it out the door Ino called out.

"Hinata, make sure you bring Rantou by the Hokage tower sometime soon for a follow up exam." Hinata acknowledged her with a small wave and went on her way to her home.

* * *

(Konoha) Dec 28 – 017AK: (The dates)

* * *

This day was pure torture for the young heiress. Santen started off the day with a bouquet of lilies and breakfast at an expensive restaurant followed by a short walk through the local park where he 'accidentally' grabbed her backside. Hisen took her out to an elegant restaurant for lunch, had a nice chat, and followed up by him trying to steal a kiss from her only to receive a fist to the face shortening his conscious time with her. Then Ashten followed that up with taking her out to dinner at another expensive restaurant, a stroll through the city, and then walked her back to the Hyuuga manor but ended up tripping on something and went to steady himself by grabbing her shoulder, but got a nice large handful of something else when he missed. Hinata was pissed and wanted the day to end, but she knew she had one more date that might be better. (Let's kill all those bastards!)

'Why did I have to promise you Naruto-kun? It would have been easier to just disappear.' Her thoughts were knocked out when she bumped into her next date.

"Sorry, I guess you're ready for your date?" she spoke out not being very excited anymore.

"Oh it's that time already? I guess I just lost time waiting for you." He replied

"You were waiting for me?" she asked blushing uncontrollably.

"Yeah, I guess I was. For some reason I couldn't get you out of my mind, but what has you so preoccupied?"

"Well I was just thinking about someone." She replied sadly.

"I don't want to pry, but can you talk about him?"

"What makes you certain it's a 'him'?" she defended quickly.

"Easy, I saw it in your eyes."

"I see…I will tell you if you tell me one secret about you that I don't know, and I know quite a bit from talking with Ino." Rantou thought about it for a moment.

"Well, I guess you drive a hard bargain. You will make a perfect clan head."

"Thank you, now about that secret of yours." The two of them walked out of the manor and out into the streets as they continued their conversation.

"Well, since you talked to Ino, you know everything I know except for what I just found out. I believe you may be the key to my past."

"Is this a line or something?" Hinata asked with empty emotions.

"No, what I mean is that I can't see any colors, but for some reason you are in full color. I can't tell you what color anything is around me, but I can tell you the color of everything you're wearing and the color of your hair."

"Well I believe that you are color blind from talking to Ino, but I have yet to believe that you can see me in color, you could have gotten details from your buddies, but I can test that with something I'm sure no one saw." Hinata pulls the neck of her shirt down over her shoulder exposing her bra strap. Now then, if you can see me in color, what color is my bra?" for a moment he was speachless from her bold action.

"It is pale lavender like your eyes" he replied with a blush matching hers.

"I will believe you for now, but you will need to come to the Hokage tower tomorrow for a follow up exam, and if I find you lied to me, you'll regret it. Anyways, I guess you earned your information." Her smile turned grim as she told him of her sorrow.

"His name was Naruto, he was very proud and determined but still held a sadness in his eyes when he wore a huge smile. His dream was to become the Hokage and be acknowledged by the village. He had the kindest heart and would do anything, even die, for the very people that caused his sadness. Within him was a power so great that if he were to choose it, it would destroy this entire village and probably the known world, but he kept it tamed within. He should have been considered a Hero, but instead people hated him for the power he held. Even from all his prosecution he managed to brighten the lives of the few that bothered to know him. I believe he was my soul mate, but I only manage to love him from afar. I never got to tell him how much I loved him before he died bringing one of his few friends back to the village." Once again Hinata's tears flowed from her eyes having to remember those details again.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, but I think I know exactly what you need for today… you're a ninja right?" he asked as he uncontrollably wiped some of her tears away.

"Y-yes, I'm a chuunin." She pushed out through her tears and the now forming blush.

"That is perfect. I'm sure you've been irritated by those jackasses, so how about a spar to clear your head?" he asked with a small smile.

"I don't want to spoil your plans for the night." she mentioned as she was trying to hide the excitement from a good spar.

"That's ok, I had no plans. I usually plan on the go, so this is the plan now."

"I guess it is ok, I needed to train anyways." Hinata led Rantou to her favorite training spot for their spar to commence.

* * *

They arrived and Hinata immediately got into a fighting stance and waited for Rantou to as well, but was confused when he took no stance. "I'm ready Hinata." He called out showing that this was his fighting stance. They both started to feel each other out throwing small hits and punches starting their warm up. They increased their speed and power of the strikes bit by bit to get fully ready to begin the real match. Feeling fully loosened up it was now time to get serious.

"Hinata, if you're ready, I think you should activate your Byakugan so we can really begin."

"Do you really think you are that good? Don't under estimate me… 'Byakugan'" Her eyes tuned glassy as her veins bulged on her face signifying the activation of her dojutsu.

'She is so scary and pretty at the same time with those eyes' he thought before forcing that back in his mind. "No, I wasn't underestimating you; I just thought I should warn you before I do this…" Rantou moved so quickly he even vanished from Hinata's sight until she felt someone tapping on her shoulder hiding in her blind spot.

"How? No one knows of that weakness outside of the clan and a few others." she pondered out loud.

"Hmm, got me, I just knew it was a weak spot, but how I don't know. Anyways, are you just going to stand there or are you going to attack?" with his new speed he disappeared again and threw out a flurry of punches and was amazed at the increase of speed and agility she was now displaying. His hands started feeling numb from the glancing blows until it hit him, 'the Jyuken, I need to stay away from her hands.' (hint: he never studied Hyuuga techniques, but knew of the Jyuken and the blind spot by coincidence?) Rantou ducked and dodged each strike she threw and countered when he could.

'He is just as unpredictable as Naruto was in his fighting, but he is much faster… amazing' Hinata almost got a kick to her head before she snapped out of her thoughts to dodge.

"You are awesome Hinata, how are you with deflecting chakra weapons?" He called out from a safe distance. What he got in return was a smile saying 'bring it on'. Rantou took out his hilt and channeled chakra into it bringing forth a translucent Katana blade. Rantou inspected the blade in slight amazement. 'My blade has never taken such a refined form, it's almost perfect' Rantou charged forward with a downward slash making sure it wasn't gong to contact the girl. Hinata dodged the attack, but managed to be flown through the air. Her Byakugan showed her that she wasn't thrown into the air by only chakra, but by a large concentration of wind infused chakra. With the next horizontal slash Rantou made, Hinata took her hand, filled with chakra, and grabbed the blade stopping it completely.

"Now what Rantou?" she asked in a sweet, almost flirtatious voice as she brought her other hand around to knock him out. Hinata felt the chakra blade disappear and Rantou ducked underneath her strike and jumped back to a safe distance.

"I guess I can go full force on you then, you will be the first opponent to live past seeing my blades." Rantou divided his hilt and pushed his chakra into them bringing out his twin blades in the new katana form. Rantou charged forward rapidly slashing with each sword in unpredictable fashion (Also known as crazy, but controlled crazy). Hinata barely dodged each attack until a blast of wind struck her midsection sending her flying safely through the air. This time around she full expected the attack and recovered quickly as she landed softly on the ground.

"You'll have to do better than that to keep me down" she panted.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." Rantou pushed extreme amounts of chakra into the swords getting Hinata's eyes to widen when she saw the sheer amount of it pulsating within in the sword.

'Crap that's too much chakra' Hinata thought as the blades came at her full force "Extreme Gale" Rantou's blades came at her with him smiling seeing her stance and knew the defense she was executing. "Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō (Protection of 8 trigrams: 64 hands)" Hinata expelled her chakra in to a fine web of concentrated energy completely stopping the forward slash. The momentum change was enough to send Rantou off balance creating a perfect opening for Hinata to strike "You are in range: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)" Hinata's hands moved like lightning striking and closing each tenketsu she aimed for. Rantou's blade dispersed as he took a knee from her closing down his chakra.

* * *

"I did underestimate you. For some reason I didn't expect that attack to come from you, almost like I have seen the attack but didn't know you could do it." Rantou coughed up a bit of blood and fell face forward. Hinata ran up to him apologizing profusely as she started healing his body. "I'm sorry Hinata, I should have expected that attack, you are the Hyuuga heir, it was my fault."

"But how could it be your fault? You shouldn't have known any of my attacks."

"I don't really know how, but I've seen all those attacks and know what they do. It is just like how I knew your name." Hinata smiled at his explanation and finished her healing.

"There, you should be all healed now."

"If that's so, then why can't I move my arms, they hurt like hell?" Hinata immediately reactivated the Byakugan and saw the muscles in his arms that got damaged by her attack from her chakra bursting out of his back, showing she used more chakra than necessary to close each point.

"I'm sorry, it looks like I damaged your muscles with my attack, I used too much chakra in them; I could probably fix it if you want me to." Hinata, started to blush knowing what she needed to do to heal him.

"Sure, that sounds great, but why are you blushing?"

"Well, I guess it is because your shirt needs to be off, and since you can't do it, I'll have to remove it."

"Don't worry, I won't tell." was his simple response with a smile. Gulping slightly, Hinata caringly pulled on the hem of his shirt pushing it up as far as it would go until having to move his arms. She gingerly moved his arms upwards getting a slight groan of pain from the movement. She pulled his shirt off and realized her own outer shirt, that was shredded, was getting in the way, so she removed that as well leaving her in a thin white t-shirt.

"It's not like I don't enjoy your little strip show there, but my arms really hurt where they are." Hinata immediately turned red and hurried back to him and moved his arms back down by his sides. She then proceeded to straddle his waist and sat herself down on his body (he's face down, remember pervs?)

"This may tingle a bit Rantou-kun." She warned him before starting a small healing jutsu and began massaging his shoulders easing the pain away with each relaxing second. The chakra healed the tissues while the physical stimulation increases the blood flow to the area speeding the healing process.

"So then Hinata, how long should it take?" he asked feeling fully relaxed under her touch.

"Why does it still hurt?"

"No, I just really like it" he replied while blushing himself.

"Well it usually should be done by now, but maybe I hurt you worse than I thought I did. I should probably keep it up for a while longer." Hinata smiled shyly with the blush still on her face 'No, I definitely won't let this feeling leave me again' she thought while she continued her massage of the wind master's back. They talked into the night until she felt his body fall into a steady rhythm of sleep. 'We weren't out here that long were we? I should be getting low on chakra, so why… am… I not…?" her jutsu faded and Hinata fell asleep lying on the wind master's bare back.

* * *

...Later


	8. Chapter 8

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

(Konoha) Dec 29 – 017 AK: Early morning

* * *

It was unusually warm morning as the sun peaked up above the horizon casting its warming glow upon the village below.

"Hey Akamaru, let's see if Hinata is out training early this morning, we haven't seen her in a while." Announced Kiba loudly as he walked out his door heading to the training grounds. Kiba, with Akamaru by his side, ran to where Hinata does her training. When he finally arrived he was surprised as well as angered at what he saw. There was this strange guy, shirtless, with a half dressed Hinata lying on top of him trying to snuggle in closer.

"Hey bastard! How dare you take advantage of Hinata like that. What have you done to her?" Kiba shouted causing Rantou to wake up slightly.

"Shut it dog boy, I'm trying to sleep here." Came Rantou's groggy reply. Just then he realized it was slightly harder to breathe due to a pressure on his back. He was relieved when he remembered last night and that it was Hinata lying on his back.

"Mmm, Naruto-kun…" she mumbled slightly awake from his movement.

"No, I'm sorry sweetie, this is Rantou."

"It's ok Rantou-kun, you'll do." She responded back trying to snuggle deeper into his back.

"What the Hell!?" shouted Kiba being disgusted by this. "Hey moron, It's almost 8 in the morning some people may want to use these training grounds.

"Crap, it's 8 already? I guess it's time to wake up then." Rantou reaches back as best he can and starts to likely shake her soft arm. "Hey, Hinata, it time to wake up angel."

"Just a little longer, please." she begged in response to his voice.

"Sorry Hinata-chan, but some guy and his dog wants to use the training ground we're on." Gasping, Hinata bolted to her feet.

"Kiba-kun" she blurted out in surprise.

"Hey Hinata, what's with the guy? Won't your father get angry if you're with a strange guy?"

"Actually I could have been caught doing much more with him and father wouldn't have cared." Hinata blushed dark red realizing what she implied. "This is Rantou-kun, he is someone brought in for my arranged marriage. You'll probably see more of him."

"It's ok. It was never my business anyways. I was just checking to see how you're doing. I'll leave you two alone."

"That isn't necessary Kiba-kun, we were just leaving, and I'm getting hungry anyways." Rantou, with his shirt back on, approached Hinata and hands over what was left of her shirt.

"Hinata-chan, you should probably head back home. Your 9 o'clock will probably be waiting." Rantou stated with a slightly down voice. With a sweet smile, Hinata turned to him.

"As far as I'm concerned, all my appointments have been canceled." Hinata grabs her shirt and throws it on, "Rantou-kun, would you like to accompany me to breakfast?"

"Sure Hinata-chan, but you may need a different shirt than that one." She inspects her torn clothing and has to agree.

"You're right, let's go to Sakura's house. I want to avoid those other 3 for now." Hinata grabbed Rantou's arm and pulled him off in the direction of Sakura's house. Now being drug around the village wouldn't be his first choice for morning exercises, but he seemed content being drug around by an angel, well maybe for a little while.

"Angel, do you think you can tell me where you're taking me so I can walk on my own?"

"Sorry Rantou-kun, I just got carried away." Hinata stopped and let go of his arm. "Um, Rantou-kun, why do you call me Angel?"

"You know, that is a good question. It might be because I feel calmed by your presence, or it could be because you look as good as one." Hinata was smiling and blushing at his statement and grabbed his arm and tugged him along further to her destination.

"I want to avoid dating losers, so I'm taking you around the village today."

"Well, if you wanted to get away from dating, then why are you bringing me along?"

"I said I wanted to get away from dating losers, now come on." She ordered as she drug him along faster.

"You don't need to drag me angel, I can walk."

"Oh sorry." Hinata lets go of his arm disappointedly but finds his hand appearing in hers intertwining with her fingers bringing a bright smile to her face.

"Now angel, do I really need to be drug, or can I walk? And if you wanted to go faster you just had to ask" Rantou tightened his grip on her hand and jumped to the closest roof top pulling her up with him. "Lead the way angel." Hinata took off, with Rantou in tow, sprinting across the roof tops to Sakura's. They arrived in moments and proceeded to knock on the door. Sakura stepped out on the porch and quickly closed the door behind her in attempt to hide something.

"Hinata, what a surprise. What can I do for you." Hinata didn't miss the quick shutting of the door.

"He's in there isn't he?" she asked with a hint of anger

"Yes, I invited Sasuke-kun over for breakfast. People tend to do that with their boyfriends."

"Well, I think I can tolerate him for while, all I need is a change of clothes and I don't want to go back to the manor yet."

"Ok, I should have just the thing for you." Just then Sakura noticed Hinata's hand in some guy's. "So Hinata, are you going to introduce him?" The two quickly released each other's hands and blushed slightly.

"Sakura, this is Rantou-kun. He is my… date for the day." she told her while trying to quell the blush from coming.

"Nice to meet you Rantou, you guys can come in for a while, but no fighting." Sakura gave a pointed glare to Hinata and let them into the house. Upon entering, Sasuke put on his usual acting and smirked seeing Hinata walking in with a guy.

"See I told you that you would get over him, and you did." Sakura had to try with all her might to hold Hinata back after those words were said.

"I can never get over him. I'm just following his wishes by trying to lead some sort of life, so go screw yourself." She shouted to the Uchiha bastard.

"Rantou, can you hold back your girlfriend before she kills someone?"

"Well I would, but for some unknown reason, I want to see her bash his face in, but since it may damage your home, I'll try." Rantou stepped in front of the irate girl and held her shoulders firm staring into her eyes. "Hinata-chan, calm down angel. The quicker you ignore him the quicker we can leave." She seemed to calm down enough with his presence that Sakura was able to pull her into her room to get the clothes leaving Sasuke alone with Rantou.

"Sasuke is it? I would suggest you keep quiet around Hinata. I will keep her from killing you, but not from crippling you. Even I feel like doing you harm for those careless words you spoke"

"Ha, that's a joke. You're just as weak and worthless as she is. What could you possibly do to me?" Sasuke never even saw the movement until he felt two sharp edges of chakra pressing up against his neck. He was astonished at his speed and began to sweat seeing the two chakra swords crossing in front of his neck. Sakura and Hinata came back out into the room, Hinata was peering around the door frame trying to hide herself from view, after hearing the commotion just to find Sasuke being held at knife point.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gasped as she ran forward, "Hey asshole! Who said you could come into my house and threaten my guest?"

"I was just answering a challenge." Rantou leaned forward and whispered to Sasuke, "Remember, Hinata is just as fast as I am, so if you want to keep your life, keep your mouth shut around her." Rantou removed the swords and deactivated them while placing them away again." My apologies Sakura-san it was very unprofessional of me to be that aggressive." Rantou saw Hinata hiding behind the door frame and smiled to her. "You ready to go angel?" she nodded and shyly stepped out revealing a low cut light blue shirt and black skin tight capri style pants.

"Um Sakura, do you have a jacket or something? This seems a little revealing." Sakura looked at her and then looked at the dazed look on Rantou as he looked at Hinata. Getting an evil smile she decided to ask Rantou a question.

"So, Rantou, what do you think of Hinata's clothes?" He was still staring at her form, but that question snapped him out of it.

"I, um… you look gorgeous Hinata-chan." Sakura was still smiling evilly and grabbed the two and pushed them out the door.

"It's settled then, you two have fun now." Sakura ran back into the house closing the door behind her. Hinata was slightly embarrassed at being so revealing, but that passed as she felt a hand grabbing hold of hers and a surprised look crossed her face. Rantou looked at her smiling visage and smiled.

"What? It just felt right before." Hinata smiled and squeezed his hand. As they stepped away from the door they heard what could be the best sound in the world.

"Sasuke, you arrogant jerk! How many times must I tell you to not say anything to her!?" the screaming stopped as crashing sounds and male whimpering was heard.

"I guess she accepted my apology then." Rantou received a smile and a nod from Hinata and they set out to find breakfast.

* * *

After a relatively quiet meal, where they were trying to watch the other without being caught, Hinata decided to lead him to the Hokage tower to take care of his follow up exam. They were ushered into the office and found Ino, along with a close facsimile, being her mother.

"We have been expecting you, please sit, we'll start momentarily." Tsunade stated with a smile seeing the two holding hands.

"So Ino, why is your mother here?" Hinata asked in curiosity.

"Well, mom is here to evaluate my proficiency in the jutsu, so she will be going with me into Rantou's mind. She may not have the Yamanaka ability, but there is no other person around with better knowledge of interpreting slight differences in minds. Hopefully we might find something new as well." she told her hiding the fact that she needed a second opinion on the windmaster's mind.

"Ino, we are ready to continue. You may proceed." Commanded Tsunade. Ino sat Rantou down into a chair and did her jutsu bringing both her mother and herself in to his mind.

* * *

Everything went black for a while before shadows started to appear showing the dark room from before, but something was really off from last time. The filing cabinets in the center of the room were surrounded by shadowy papers flying in absolute chaos. The places where the main rooms for love, anger, happiness, and sadness were visable, but were shadows of what they should have been. At least they made a showing now, but the thing that standed out the most was the giant and elegant lavender door at the far corner.

"What is going on here?" Ino asked no one in particular. "This is completely different than the last time I was here."

"His mind is in great turmoil and it is trying to fix itself. I believe the cause may be due to what ever that door leads to." Her mother figured. Ino gave no reply as she walked towards the door. When they got close to the door they noticed there was a girl crying with her head in her knees hugging herself tightly. Ino thought she looked extremely familiar when they got closer. When they were within a few feet from her the girl she looked at them with her pale pupil less eyes.

"H-Hinata?" gasped Ino before her mother took over.

"What is wrong child, why are you crying?" sniffling back her tears the girl answered

"I'm trying to get into my room but it is locked."

"What makes you say that this is your room? How did you get here?" asked Ino getting out of her shock

"I don't know how I got here, but the moment I did, all those dark thingies started to go crazy and then a box appeared in my hands and some guy told me to go to my room but it wont open."

"Could I see the box?" she offered up the box without a word and Ino began shuffling through it seeing all the memories of Hinata that Rantou had in the past few days. "So you say a guy told you to go here? Where is he now?"

"He is standing behind you." Ino and her mother jumped as they saw the presence of a dark shadowy person looking at them with piercing blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Ino asked the shadow.

"I am the keeper." he replied in a dark monotone voice.

"The keeper of what?"

"Keeper of memories."

"If you're the keeper of memories, then why is she here all alone?"

"She is here because this is where the others that look like her went. Just her presence here is disturbing the shadows."

"What do you mean by 'others'? and what are the shadows?"

"Before the shadows came ones looking like her came freely into here and moving into the big door there and the shadow door next to it. I don't remember how everything looks, so I'm trying my best to categorize the shadows, but I need the doors to open so I can do that correctly. Until the shadow door next to hers opens, she will be trapped here."

"So what are the shadows then? You haven't answered that, but I also need to know what the name of the room she belongs in."

"The shadows are the memories that turned black when the doors spilled their contents and most disappeared. As for the door, the room of love needs to open for her to enter… the soul mate room."

"When did she start going there?" Ino asked completely surprised that there was yet another person with a room like Hinata has.

"Time doesn't exist here so I have no idea, but it was long before the shadows came. Unfortunately I must get going and you must leave." The shadow figure thrust his palms forward throwing the travelers from the mind back into their bodies without the jutsu being canceled. Groggily, Ino and her mother regained consciousness minutes after being released.

* * *

"Ow, that was painful…" Ino muttered coming from her unconsciousness.

"Painful, yes… his mind is beyond strong, but it wasn't his." Replied Ino's mother which started to scare Hinata.

"Ino, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with Rantou-kun?" she called out worried for him.

"Um, no, but his mind is reacting strangely to your presence." Ino replied

"What do you mean?"

"Well it would seem as though his mind is trying to recreate itself around the idea that he knew you before loosing his memory. I don't exactly know what that means, but his mind is in chaos trying to find the memories to piece together the reason for you. He should be fine, but I wouldn't expect heavy thinking from him for a while."

"Is there more?" asked Tsunade.

"There may be, but we need to converse on that before we have an answer"

"Very well, you and your mother figure this out and get back to me, by the way things look he will be staying for a while."

"Yes Hokage-sama." The 2 Yamanakas immediately left the office leaving Tsunade with Hinata and a still unconscious Rantou.

"So Hinata, you seem to be moving awfully fast. Are you sure this is the path you wish to take?" Hinata eyed the unconscious wind master with a smile and replied without taking her eyes off him.

"Um, yes, Hokage-sama. I don't know why, but I seem to be drawn to him almost like he was someone else." Knowing the meaning of that statement Tsunade decided to pose another question.

"So are you sure you aren't just using Rantou in place of him?"

"I really don't know if I am or not, but what I do know is that when I am with him it doesn't hurt so much. If he accepts the marriage, I'm sure I will be able to live a life, and with luck, maybe a happy life like he wanted me to."

"Well I guess you have made your decision. Of the 4, you made the best choice, but there was no contest in that was there?"

"No I suppose there wasn't." After Hinata finished Rantou slowly started to gain consciousness.

"Whoa, my head feels funny." He said while grabbing his head

"Rantou-kun, you're awake." Hinata stated clearly happy

"Yes, I suppose I am." He replied by stating the obvious, causing her to giggle. "What's so funny Angel?"

"Nothing really, you're just being silly." 'much too similar to the way he would act' She shook that thought from her head before it could bring down her attitude. "Um if it is alright with you Hokage-sama, I'd like to continue my day." With a smile and a nod from Tsunade, Hinata turned to her wind master. "Come on Rantou-kun, I have some things I want to show you."

"Ok angel, lead the way." Rantou bowed and excused himself from the Hokage once again holding back the urge to call her baa-chan. They stepped outside the office as Rantou unconsciously grabbed Hinata's hand.

"Um, Rantou-kun, what do you think of me?" she asked after feeling his hand grab hers

"I think you're nice." He replied too quickly for her taste.

"Is that all, or is there something more?"

"No, I think nice covers it."

"Well, I know of a lot of people that think I'm nice, but none of them hold my hand." Rantou looks to his hand and is surprised to see that he actually is holding her hand again. He tries to let go but finds she is not letting him. "I never said you had to let go." Her smiling face caused the wind master to relax and close his hand back around hers. "I don't know what caused you to loose your memories, but it seems like your actions go against what you say." Her smile continued as she tightened her grip and pulled him off into the village.

* * *

The rest of the day went by quickly for the two as they enjoyed each other's company though lunch and dinner. They basically talked about their missions and whatever else they could think of, but that came to a close as they approached the Hyuuga manor after dark.

"Hinata-chan, don't you think the other guys are going to be pissed about you spending the day with me?"

"Yes, that would be a good assumption, but I don't care, I had a good time today with you."

"Well I'm sure you won't be able to do this again, and you'll have to go out with them. The best we can do is to make up an excuse so you aren't pressured into spending equal time with the others."

"But, I don't want to. I enjoyed my time with you so much that I should really just send the others away now."

"Don't be so hasty, I know you could choose the 'winner' early, but I really don't think I'm a good choice. I feel as though I am only staying around you because of the possibility that you hold what I need to gain my memories. You should really forget about me, I could only cause you pain.

"NO! I have only felt this way around one other person. When I let him out of my life, he never returned alive, so I won't accept it. Even if you do end up using me for your memories, I will still choose you. I will stomach going out with those guys if you promise you will accept my hand in marriage if you are the choice afterwards, deal?"

"Alright angel, if you still feel I could bring you happiness after dating for a while, I will accept. We really shouldn't arrive together to prevent some friction though. Goodnight angel." Hinata reluctantly let go of his hand as they both went their way into the manor.

* * *

(Konoha) Jan 23 – 018 AK:

* * *

The next three weeks was pretty much hell for Hinata, having to stand 3 lecherous dates per day that left her so drained that she wasn't even able to enjoy her last date of the day with the one she really wanted to be with. Today she couldn't take it any more and had to stop it. Hinata stood outside her father's study and knocked announcing her presence.

"You may enter" announced the current clan head. Hinata opens the door and steps though into the study. "Ah Hinata, what brings you here?"

"I have come to a decision father." Hiashi smiled, but not because she has chosen, but that his plan is coming to fruition. He was actually very surprised she lasted this long with his personal torture but knew that she would lean towards the wind master. He also knew that as an elemental master, his blood wouldn't mix with the blood of the clan correctly to give the bloodline ability to their offspring, so he wins on both cases.

"So who is your choice then?"

"The best choice is Rantou."

"Very well, everything will be taken care of. You will bring him back here by noon today to finalize the contract."

"Thank you father." Hinata quickly turned away and left the study so she wouldn't show any trace of her happiness.

"No, thank you Hinata, now no one will stand in the way of Hanabi becoming the heir, and the council will let the caged bird seal be placed on you." Hiashi smiled evilly as he looked for the documents to finalize the deal.

* * *

By 11:00 that day the other suitors were removed from the village at different times so no one knew who was chosen. Any belongings Rantou had were brought into his new room adjacent to Hinata's where he will stay until they get married. Of course Rantou objected to her choice, but he didn't really need much persuasion to accept. The two approached Hiashi's study and were met at the door by him.

"Come in Hinata, Rantou, we have much to discuss." They entered the study and sat at the places set for them and waited for him to speak.

"Now here are the terms to the agreement: You will be married in less than one year, and Hinata must have produced a powerful heir by her 23rd birthday or she will be stripped of her title and the caged bird seal will be placed on her and will be officially divorced leaving you free, Rantou. Any questions? Good." Obviously not leaving any time to object he pulled out the scroll for the contract. "Now sign on each line with your blood binding you to the terms of the contract. Until the contract expires, by either death of one, or the time runs out, neither of you can marry since any other contract will reject your blood." They both knew the deal seemed a little messed up, but who were they to argue, this was the only way to get married in the family. Hinata quickly pricked her finger with a kunai and signed her name and passed it to Rantou who pricked his finger and went to write his name, but all that was written was a small spiral instead, slightly irritating Hiashi.

"What's the deal? You can't even write your own name?"

"No, that isn't it. I have no memory of myself, so I just wrote the first symbol I could think of. Besides the contract really only needs our blood to be active." Hiashi gave in knowing he was right and placed the scroll in his desk drawer.

"Now I suggest you two spend a great deal of time together, but it would be frowned upon if you were pregnant before your wedding, so try to keep it proper." The two were very flustered at the freedom they were actually given and quickly left the room to salvage what they could of the remainder of the day before they died of poor blood circulation from all of it rushing to their faces...

* * *

... Later


	9. Chapter 9

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

(More time passes, but now we're getting to the good stuff) April 19 - 018AK - Morning

* * *

It has been about three months since the plans for the engagement were finalized between Rantou and Hinata. They decided to take their relationship very slowly since they had almost a year to still be somewhat single and they'll have the rest of their lives together, so why rush things? Their time together was mostly spent talking and holding hands, but Hinata wanted a little more attention. Rantou seemed like he didn't have many feelings and it irritated Hinata a bit to not have affection shown the way she wanted, but there was still plenty of time to break through that.

Ino and her mother were stumped with the problem of figuring out the wind master's mind. The only thing that came close to answering their conundrum (I love that word) was that Rantou didn't have a complete soul and as such clung to Hinata's creating the strange bond, but they immediately threw out that idea since it was an impossibility to divide a soul. After all their research, they ended up at the same place they started, with nothing other than dead ends that always ended at a certain dead shinobi.

Like every year, Konoha was entering their busiest season for missions, but this year was particularly busy since they were coming in faster than they were being completed. Tsunade needed every able bodied ninja to complete missions, so that is where we find the Hyuuga heiress, being called in from the temporary inactive duty.

* * *

"Hinata, I'm sorry, but I must pull you off of the inactive duty roster. I need every ninja of this village to complete the missions this season since we really need the money to get the village going strong. Therefore, Hyuuga Hinata, you are to take this document," throws her a scroll, "to the grass country. Upon reaching your destination you will be met by a Jonin that will take you to your target where you will exchange documents and take the new one to wherever you are designated to go. After reaching that destination you will receive yet another document and bring it back here. This will be an upper A-rank mission due to the unknown location of the second and third meetings."

"Um, Hokage-sama, how long will I be gone?"

"You should be gone for about a month." Hinata's face dropped at the mention of the time frame, and Tsunade noticed it with a smile. "Since you are still a chuunin, you will need to pick a person to accompany you of about Jonin level, and if you can keep your mind on the mission, you can pick anyone you want." Instantly she brightened back up.

"Thank you Hokage-sama, we will leave before noon today." Hinata immediately left the office to get ready for the mission. Rushing back to the manor, Hinata informed her father, and Rantou, of the mission before disappearing into her room to pack. Hinata found her mission pack and when she opened it her smile fell from her face as she removed some bright orange clothing from the pack. 'Naruto-kun, I'm sorry, I need to let go of you if I am to have the life you wished for me. I will always love you, but I must move on.' Sighing, Hinata took the journal out of her desk and wrapped it in the orange clothing and placed it in a box and slid in onto the top shelf of her closet. "Good-bye Naruto-kun." Hinata wiped a tear from her cheek and finished her packing.

* * *

It was about 11:00 when Hinata finished packing and met up with her fiancé before leaving the manor. Opting for a speedy first day, they hurriedly took off through Konoha and out the gates running towards their first location, grass country. At the speed they were traveling there was little time to talk, but the upside was they arrived at the border of grass country in about 5 days. Like the mission stated, when they arrived at the border they were met by a very forgettable Jonin. They were escorted by the silent Jonin through a few villages until they arrived at a large house about a day later. They were led into a large office where they met an older man of about 40 years of age. With out even speaking to the two, the man pulled out two scrolls, one was the document, the other was instructions where to take it, and handed them to Hinata and motioned for them to leave. After being led out of the house again the Jonin escort disappeared leaving them alone in the street.

"That was weird… Where are we heading off to now Angel?" Hinata pulled open the scroll and absorbed the information.

"We're going to lightning country." Was her reply, but Rantou missed her sad expression. They traveled for a while, but then Rantou did notice a change in her attitude as they got closer to their second destination. Saying she was worried would be an understatement, she was clearly frightened.

"What has you so worried Angel?" asked the curious wind master. Hearing his voice break the silence, Hinata jumped in fear and nearly punched him in the face.

"I'm…I'm sorry." She spit out before she felt his hands grab hers tightly.

"Please tell me what has you frightened all of the sudden Hinata-chan."

"Well, I guess it's just that I had a bad experience with cloud nins... Back when I was three, I was taken from my room in the Hyuuga manor. Their intention was to acquire the Byakugan whether it was to remove my eyes or turn me into a breeding slave." Hinata fell into tears to the point that she could barely walk from her crying.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan, but as long as I am here, no one will touch you and live." Hinata forced a small smile, but continued her crying. Rantou knew she wasn't in any condition to continue and decided to make camp for the night. From that point on, Hinata never strayed from his touch, except to do personal business, but it steadily got worse over the next few days to the point where Hinata could only get some sleep while safely held in Rantou's arms.

* * *

One night Rantou sat watching Hinata sleep peacefully in his arms under the moonlight of the dense forest where they were camping. Off in the distance a waterfall could be heard creating a surreal atmosphere bringing a thought to the wind master. 'Hinata, between the moonlight illuminating your beautiful face and the sounds from the waterfall, I feel as though there should be something I should remember that involves you, but I just can't place it. Sleep well angel, I know you are tied to me somehow and I will figure it out, eventually.' With that thought he let sleep consume him pulling him into a dream where the image of a moonlit girl twirled about in the water, but he was unable to see who it was from the angle of the light. Rantou's short dream actually lasted the entire night since he was now waking to a wonderful aroma.

"Rantou-kun, you awake?"

"Yeah, but what smells so good?"

"Well, since it is morning, we call it breakfast. Hurry up and eat, if we hurry we can get this leg of the journey over and we can get the hell out of this area." They quickly ate their breakfast and prepared themselves for the push to lighting country. It took them only 2 hours to get to their destination, but they had to wait for their contact to arrive. An hour passed and finally a man came into view. The dark haired man approached them wearing a black trench coat with 2 hilts elevated above each shoulder with the sheaths crossing mid back signifying two large katana like blades.

"Ah, the Konoha nins, I see you have brought what I came for." He stated creepily eyeing Hinata. Nodding she came forward and presented the scroll. "Oh, so this is how my employer pulled it off." The man pocketed the scroll, "but this scroll won't be needed."

"What do you mean?" Rantou asked

"Well you see, I was sent to retrieve an item and store it in this special scroll, but when I actually saw the specific item, I believe my employer will like the whole object much better."

"If you will, sir, we have a mission to complete. If you would give us our last object, we can return to Konoha." Hinata asked showing a bit of agitation.

"You seem quite nervous around here little Hyuuga, but you won't be leaving quite yet since I haven't completed my objective yet. You see little girl your mission was a setup, I've been sent for one thing… your bloodline." Hinata jumped back with Rantou as they prepared for a battle causing laughs from the cloud nin. "I've been trained for the past 14 years specifically for this task. I was ordered to remove your eyes and place them in the stasis scroll, but I thought that even one with your eyes removed can still produce offspring having the ability, and you won't need to see to partake in that." Hinata cringed with his comment which completely pissed off Rantou.

"Hinata, I know you don't want to hear this, but you can't fight."

"What? I can't just stand here, I am not weak, I can…" she was cut off.

"Yes, I know you are far from weak, but he has had specific training to combat the Hyuuga style so you can't stand a chance alone, besides, if there is anyway I can protect you from harm, I will." Turning to the cloud nin, "I will never let you touch her!"

* * *

Rantou charged at the guy throwing out a series of punches and kicks and had them all be blocked by his opponent. "Is that all you got kid? You are an insult. I have been training for longer than you have been talking, now just die already. Oh, and I'll be sure to take _good_care of your little lady." The man unsheathed his two swords and stood ready to attack.

"Well I see you want to step it up a notch already. It'll make this battle much shorter." He then pulled out his hilt and channeled chakra into forming his wind sword that he named Tempest. "Enough talking." Rantou charged forward throwing an upward diagonal slash only to have it be blocked by two chakra reinforced blades. "Well I guess you are better than I thought, you can use chakra to reinforce your blades. You will be the third person alive to see the true power of my swords (note that I am too lazy to find every mention of this number and make them match so some may say 2-3 people have seen the twin swords while others may say four. Deal with it changing them all is just too... troublesome), but that will go back down to two in a while." Rantou dispersed the chakra in his sword and divided the hilt while channeling chakra back into them creating the twin swords.

Hinata watched worriedly as the battle ensued. Every attack was blocked and countered just to have the counter be blocked and countered again. The two were fighting at an unreal pace but neither was getting anywhere near striking the other.

'Rantou-kun, I know you are strong, but this battle could really go either way. Maybe if I were to help, it would turn the tides of the battle.' Hinata held onto that thought and activated her Byakugan to search for an opening to help. She saw what she was looking for and went in for a strike but it wast a feint and she caught a steel blade to her shoulder cutting a deep wound into her pale skin and sending her flying into a tree and slumped to the ground.

"Hinata!" Rantou landed a kick to the attacker and launched to the side of his future wife. "Hinata, speak to me, are you ok?" When he turned her over he saw a battered girl with blood leaking from the corner of her mouth. "Hinata, why didn't you stay away, I never wanted to see you like this again." 'Wait… again? I've never seen her like this, but it seems too familiar.' Throwing the thought away he felt, and found a strong pulse in her and was relieved when her eyes opened. "Hinata, stay here. You are in no condition to fight anymore." Rantou went to leave, but saw her blood on the ground and uncontrollably ran his fingers through it and clenched them into a fist. "I give you my word… I will defeat him." Rantou charged at his opponent and nearly cut his head off, but only managed to slice off some hair instead.

"You won't be able to keep your word boy" declared the enemy.

"No, I will, because I never go back on my words…" Rantou wasn't able to complete his sentence when he fell to his knees clutching his head screaming out in pain.

"Rantou-kun, what's wrong?" screamed Hinata as she slowly sat up gaining conciousness. The cloud ninja saw this as a perfect opportunity to take care of his mission and charged the injured Hyuuga.

"I guess I really only need your eyes and since your boyfriend is occupied, I'll have them before your dead body hits the ground… Now die!" he went for a quick kill thrust. Hinata saw the attack coming, but was too injured to do anything and closed her eyes and waited for death to consume her. She heard the sickening sound of cutting flesh as blood splattered against her face, but didn't feel the pain. She slowly opened her eyes and was greeted with the face of the tan haired grey eyed wind master. Hinata gave him a small smile before it disappeared when she saw the blade of a sword sticking out from his chest.

"Shhh, don't say anything my love. Your love kept me alive over 10 years ago, that is why I call you Angel. You truly are my angel as you always watched over me giving me strength, now it is time to repay the favor." Rantou turned to his opponent with the sword still sticking from his back. "You will die here even if it kills me, I will protect her." He brought his swords in front of him and held them in an 'X' shape. "Tempest: Ultimate Retribution" his chakra flared to dangerous levels as it was all forced into the sword for his attack until the blades detached from the hilt, still keeping the form, and flew at the unsuspecting enemy. The cloud nin brought up his last sword to guard the attack and reinforced it with all the chakra he could spare, but the blade was sliced clean through by the attack. Not only did it slice through the blade, but it also sliced through the enemy ninja and 30 ft worth of the forest. After seeing his victory, Rantou fell on his side and started coughing up large amounts of blood.

"Rantou-kun!" Hinata ran to his side, ignoring her injuries, and activated the Byakugan to see the extent of his injuries. 'No, his lung is pierced and his heart is cut as well, there is no healing of this even with Tsunade.' She deactivated her eyes and burst into tears.

"Hinata, please stop crying for a moment. I know I'm dying, so I need to tell you some things before I go." Hinata shook her head in refusal until her face was held still by his warm hands. She looked into his blue-grey eyes (not just grey anymore) and saw something growing deeper in them. "Don't ask questions… I must hurry before I go. My body must be laid to rest with the body of your true love. Only then will you be able to keep your love strong for it to find the one _whole_ person to love you and never leave. I want to thank you for being the key to my memories." He was interrupted by the need to cough up blood, "Please take my sword, when you need protection the most, it will call forth the power to keep you safe, keep it with you always." Now he coughs up more blood as his breathing shallows.

"Rantou-kun, what did you mean by 10 years ago? Did your memories really return?"

"Kind of, my angel. I knew you over 10 years ago… My love I hold for you can't be killed… I love you Hinata…" Rantou's breathing faded into nothingness as he laid there completely motionless.

"Damn it! Why can't I have someone? Must I always be alone?" she screamed to the heavens as she fell down next to him sobbing for loosing a person she never thought she could love and now she was completely lost from loosing two loves in her life.

* * *

"Hinata-sama, what happened here?" looking up with her tear filled face she stared at the person before her.

"N-Neji? Where did you come from?"

"We were chasing a lead on an S class enemy under the employ of the cloud for seeking the Byakugan. My team was only to get data since he was extremely powerful and was not to be engaged at all costs… that pile of flesh over there was the target and I am surprised anyone survived this fight… Gather your stuff, I'll carry him." Leaving no room for objections, Neji ordered one of his team to heal Hinata's wounds so she could collect her things and they could all take off for Konoha.

* * *

(Konoha) May 9 – 018AK:

* * *

It took three days for Neji's group of ninja to return to Konoha with Hinata and the body of Rantou. For that entire time Hinata fell into a deep depression and never spoke or ate once during the trek back, but it was about to get worse for the young Hyuuga. The moment they returned they were met by a branch member of the clan and informed them that they were needed in the Hyuuga courtyard under order of Hiashi. Leaving the rest of the group behind, Hinata and Neji made their way back to the Hyuuga manor and came to a stop standing in front of the entire clan council, the clan head, and a branch member holding something about the size of a person covered in a white sheet.

"Hinata," Hiashi spoke in a threatening tone, "what is the meaning of this?" he made a gesture to the branch member and the bundle was dropped to the ground. When Hinata set eyes on the object dropped, she nearly died on the spot out of all the grief and sorrow she felt seeing the orange clad well preserved body of Naruto. Right there Hinata fell to the ground in mournful sobbing.

"Damn it Hinata, stand up!" Hiashi ordered feeling disgusted at her actions and forcefully making her stand. "First you dishonor our clan by bringing this worthless body into our crypt and then you let your fiancé die because you were too weak to protect yourself. You are an utter disappointment!" Hiashi turned his face away from her in disgust and faced Neji "throw that body with the other to be burned."

"No Father!" screamed Hinata finally finding her voice. "My status in this clan and my love for both of them entitles them a spot in the crypt"

"Shut up you insolent brat!" Hiashi backhands Hinata sending her crashing into the ground. "Still too weak. You are no daughter of mine and therefore you have no status in the clan. In one month we will reconvene to determine your final punishment…. Now incinerate the bodies." Hiashi stormed out with the council as some branch members came out to take care of his order.

Neji gently laid the body down and turned away not wanting to see the tears in Hinata's eyes. The branch members unceremoniously threw the two bodies into a pile and set them ablaze with a Katon jutsu. The bodies slowly burned until the fire suddenly increased exponentially causing the flames to leap up 20 feet into the air. The light given off was so intense you couldn't even see what was being burned. Just then an even brighter light pulsed outward, but it went unnoticed. The fire died down eventually leaving nothing but a smoldering pile of ashes and a sobbing Hyuuga until she fell asleep emotionally exhausted. An hour later Neji came by and took Hinata to her room to sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

(Shortly After in an Unknown Location)

* * *

"What in the Hell? How did I get here? Where is here?" He racked his brain trying to figure out exactly what happened until he grabbed his head screaming out in pain until he passed out from the stress. He groggily came to a few hours later when realization hit him. "How could I have been so careless? I've lost so many years of my life and hurt so many people… To top it all off I have all these feelings that are just overwhelming now, but I guess they were always there. Konoha, I've caused so much pain and mostly to her… I must come back to fix all of this the best I can." He took off at a speed not seen since the Yondaime running towards Konoha. After nearly a week of running he realized he went the wrong way. Frustrated he decided to turn around and try again still thinking of all the uses his new knowledge in wind element jutsu would provide.

* * *

(Konoha) June 9 – 018 AK:

* * *

No one has seen the grieving Hinata since she returned from her mission a month ago. Due to her now declined mental health the Hyuuga clan opted to remove all sharp objects and lock her in her room to prevent her from harming herself, even though some members wouldn't mind if she did. Every night the entire manor was kept awake with the not so shy wailing coming from the young girl who caused many not to get their sleep. After nearly a month of little sleeping and eating she was left as a shell of a woman looking thin and sickly. Today Hinata was escorted to the meeting by a saddened Neji, after seeing how she looked, to the meeting of the clan council for her punishment. They arrived in the large council room surrounded by the council while Hiashi was standing in the center with his personal guards facing her as she entered. Neji couldn't handle seeing what was to come, so he left her there knowing he couldn't do anything.

"Hinata, the council and I have come to a unanimous decision. You will be stripped from the main branch and the curse seal will be placed upon you. If you happen to survive this painful seal, you will then be placed in the lowest class we have in the branch family. You will no longer be a ninja you will be a servant to the main family for what ever is seen fit. Also you will not be allowed out side of the manor ever again. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"You may no longer see me as your daughter, and I may not be allowed to be a ninja, and I may even be allowed to die today, but I know that they saw me as a strong person. You can try to do all those things, but as long as I hold this hilt, I know I won't be harmed." Hinata pulled out Rantou's chakra weapon and held it in her hands trying to pur chakra into it and got nothing but a faint pulse of energy.

"You are delusional, you do not have the ability to wield that weapon, let alone stop any of us." Hiashi signaled to one of his guards who walked up to her slowly and punched her in the face breaking her nose as it started to bleed. "You will not threaten a member of the main branch again! Servant will be your only name, and you will have no rights." With another signal the guard sent a violent kick to her ribs breaking half of them causing her to scream out in pain. "That should be enough to show you that nothing can protect you, so accept your fate." Hinata gritted her teeth and forced her overly thin frame to her feet.

"You are right about one thing, _Hiashi_, you are not my father, and you are an idiot! We control the direction of our fate!" with another silent signal a kick flew outward catching her legs knocking her to the ground where she could barely move, probably because of her almost broken legs. Now that she was not moving Hiashi approached readying the hand signs for the seal to be placed. Just moments before he contacted her forehead, a loud explosion was heard as the door to the room was blown of its hinges. When the dust cleared there was a lone guy standing protectively in front of Hinata's injured body.

This young man was dressed in black pants and a form fitting black leather jacket left opened revealing a bright orange t-shirt with a small crystalline necklace hanging around his neck. He glared at Hiashi and the council with his deep sapphire eyes slightly hidden behind the blonde hair hanging in his face. He then ignored the entire room and turned his attention to the one lying on the ground.

"I'm sorry Hinata, my Angel, I messed it all up. Can you forgive me?" pale lavender eyes looked directly into his.

"I'm sorry, I can't. As much as I want to, I know it is all a dream, the real Naruto died years ago. Now leave me in peace." She looked away and was shocked to feel her dream grab her shoulders.

"I'm sorry I caused you all this pain, but I am real my love."

"B-but how? I can feel you. I'm not imagining this?"

"I was stupid, and I messed up something. We'll talk about it later, but right now we need to get you out of here." It was then that Hinata's face fell realizing she grew away from him and loved Rantou, the dead wind master.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I don't deserve your love. After you died, I fell in love with another and…" Before she could finish Naruto cut in again.

"Hinata, don't apologize, you are special, _we_ are special. Hinata, there was times in the past where I felt like taking my life, but before I could actually follow through, I would feel the calming presence of someone. It was about 10 years ago when I felt it first. From that point on, not a day went by without that feeling unless I left the village on a mission. Just by you watching me, you kept me alive, which is why you are my Angel. You saved my life numerous times, and I have only done it once, so I am still in your debt." Naruto held out his hand towards her. "I'm sure you still haven't figured it all out, but I need the sword." Hinata almost relinquished the sword to him but the information she heard confused her so she just hugged the weapon tightly refusing to let it go. "Hinata, your clan is very angry and the sword should be able to help if I can get it to function correctly. So please hand me… Tempest." Hinata gasped at Naruto knowing the name of the sword. There were only ever three people to know the name of the sword and that would mean that one of the three was Naruto, but it would have been four if you counted them… Her eyes flooded in understanding and willingly gave up the sword. Naruto faced the room that was now coming off the shock of seeing someone interfere, but knew not who he is. "Hyuuga Hiashi, clan head of the Hyuuga, by not upholding your end of a contract sealed in blood, by Konoha law, the penalty is death… What say you?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about boy. I have not broken any contract, but you have interfered with clan business. Therefore we can do anything within our walls so _you_ are sentenced to death… Besides who are you to have a say in anything?" asked Hiashi

"Shut your pompous ass, I have every right to be here on my fiancé's behalf. You have broken my marriage contract set by you, five months ago, by denying Hinata her birthright as heir. Check your contract. It was signed in blood with my symbol, the spiral. Now you have two choices, die now, or resign as leader; these are my terms."

"Who do you think you are? And why would you even want that weak mess to marry you anyways?"

"Hinata has a name! And she is far from weak. If I hear you say other wise again, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"You and what army? Now tell me who you are!" he demanded with his Byakugan flaring

"Well if you have to know… I was an orphan shunned by my village for something I had no control over, but I will become the Hokage and surpass the man who laid this burden upon me. I am none other than the jailor and the jail for the nine tailed fox demon known as Kyuubi." Forming his favorite hand sign he produced 30 clones with each of them staring down all the members in the room. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I am my own army!" the real Naruto picked up Hinata, now unconscious, after placing the sword hilt on his waist after not needing it. "Hiashi, I am taking Hinata from here, if you choose to challenge my claim to her hand in marriage, come to the Hokage tower in three hours." No attempt was made to stop his since all 30 clones now held a blue sphere in their right hands aimed at each one of the room's occupants. The moment he was away from the manor, the clones disappeared from existence leaving some really pissed Hyuuga. Naruto ran to the Hokage tower in only five minutes while still cradling his precious cargo. Running up the stairs to her office, the Anbu guards stopped them.

"The Hokage is speaking with Kakashi-san and Jiraiya-sama and specifically requested to not be disturbed under _any_ circumstances. You should leave now."

"Really? I'm the exception to that rule." The Anbu looked on dumbfounded as they saw him inhale a large amount of air. "BAA-CHAN! QUIT TALKING TO THOSE TWO PERVERTED BASTARDS AND GET YOUR SAKE LOVING ASS OUT HERE!" The guards scattered trying to find a hiding spot for when the short tempered Hokage takes out her rage upon the intruder. After hearing mumbled swear words the door was flung open smashing into the wall.

"Of all the stupid… who the hell dares to interrupt and insult…"

"Questions later baa-chan, you need to heal Hinata now." Naruto forcefully pushed her aside and stepped into the office. "Hey, Ero-sennin, Kakashi-sensei, get that crap off the desk, NOW!"

* * *

...Later


	10. Chapter 10

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

(Same day of his return)

* * *

Hinata was set down on the now clean desk while Naruto was being eyed by his two senseis. Tsunade proceeded to snap herself out of her daze and walked up to her desk and nearly started crying on the spot when she looked at the bruised and malnourished body of the dark haired girl.

"What happened to her?" asked Tsunade while she set in to heal her injuries.

"It's all my fault Tsunade; I was the one that caused her so much pain." He replied while stroking Hinata's lifeless mess of hair.

"How was any of this your fault?"

"She loved me, but I was too dense to realize it and then I kind of died causing her much pain. It took her a while, but she managed to find love again in Rantou, but she was hurt even worse that time when I died saving her life. Loosing two people you love like that in one lifetime is too much for one person to handle. I just hope she is willing to live again." Naruto was now gently stroking her cheek mindlessly until he saw her eyes jump open staring at him.

"Naruto-kun, How? You are alive, but I saw you burn and how do you know about Rantou? I thought I figured it out but I can't" her face turned sad again and she closed her eyes so she didn't have to look at him.

"I'm sorry I caused you so much pain… and to answer your question Hinata, I messed up the jutsu I wrote about, again, but it went worse this time and it kind of divided my soul into three parts. I kept the demon in this body, but my hyper loud half went to one, while the parts I didn't know of my self, like my affinity for wind and many feelings went to another. Basically saying, I kind of am Rantou. I have his feelings, power and knowledge mixed with my own so I really am neither Naruto or Rantou as you know them, but yet I am. I know it is confusing, but I'll tell you all more later, since I have much to talk about on that topic." Naruto saw his two senseis still staring at him like he was still dead, go figure. "I really don't want to sound mean by this, but I believe Hinata-chan needs some good food and a nice shower, I doubt she has had either in a while."

"You're right Naruto-kun, I haven taken care of my self, I really just wanted to die." She said ashamed of being so weak.

"I know Hinata, and I'm sorry. I never wanted to cause you this pain. Unfortunately we have some other matters to deal with. Since I basically am Rantou, that means I am still obligated to marry you. Now Hiashi will be here in about two and a half hours to challenge my claim to you, and we'll need everything we have to get through this." Nodding, Hinata was quietly taken out of the room by Tsunade to find her the meal and shower that she so desperately needed. With an exhausted sigh, Naruto flopped into one of the plush chairs while the two perverted senseis still were staring trying to make sense that the two people who died are really the one person alive in front of them, it baffled them to no end.

Naruto was no longer amused with his senseis and decided to meditate on what he should do until they returned. 45 minutes later Tsunade returned with Hinata and was definitely surprised to see Naruto quiet and even meditating. Her appearance brought the attention of the room back to her but Naruto's eyes darted away from the Hokage to Hinata. Her face was way too thin, but her hair seemed to be back to its usual luster. The worst was her usual clothing she wore looked too big on her which showed exactly how much weight she lost. Seeing her like this broke his heart as tears fell from his face. Tsunade sat at her desk with a smile until she saw the tears in the eyes that were staring at the girl. Hinata was looking at the ground as she walked past Naruto completely ignoring his presence thinking he was still either a dream or someone playing tricks on her. (her mind is messed up, so she will be second guessing everything for a while) She let out a loud squeak as she was unexpectedly grabbed by the wrist and pulled sideways into his lap. Naruto wrapped his arms around her thin frame and pulled her close as he buried his face into the crook of her neck letting his tears fall.

"Naruto-kun…" her tears fell from her eyes feeling his affectionate touch.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I never wanted to hurt you, can you ever forgive me?"

"Shut up." She ordered. Naruto's head jerked up hearing those words. Unbelievingly he stared into her sparkling pale eyes to make sure it was her.

"What?"

"Sometimes you talk too much Naruto-kun." Hinata's arms flung around his neck bringing him closer and planting her lips directly on his causing his eyes to widen in response. To say he was surprised would be an understatement, but as usual Naruto could improvise at a moments notice and this was no different. Closing his eyes he lived in that moment deepening the kiss as he held her tighter. For the both of them, time stood still, they enjoyed each others warmth, love and even the taste of their lips. They would have stayed in that moment forever, but unfortunately their lung capacity had other plans so they were forced to part. They looked at each other happily.

"So does that mean you forgive me?" he asked

"No, not yet Naruto-kun."

"Well then what was that for?" Hinata's smile grew slightly sinister.

"That… was for my own enjoyment."

"That's mean Hinata-chan." He pouted causing Hinata to giggle. "So what do I have to do to earn your forgiveness Angel?"

"That's easy my love, you will just have to make sure you marry me like Rantou, er, you promised." She informed him while blushing.

"Your blush is still so cute Hinata-chan, and of course I will still marry you, that is what I'm here for. But before then we will have to get you extremely healthy." Leaning in next to her ear "especially for the wedding night" he whispered causing nearly all the blood in her body to flow to her face. Still holding onto consciousness she decided to hide her embarrassment by taking his lips in another passionate kiss.

"Ahem… If you two are done, I believe there are some things we need to discuss." interrupted Tsunade. Reluctantly the two embarrassingly broke apart and Hinata moved to get up, but Naruto held her back and she easily gave in and nestled into his arms.

"Well before I explain everything, I need a certain paper shredded." Naruto announced. All four people in attendance looked at him like he was crazy, but one was hiding the sweat pouring down his face. "Ero-sennin! I will not have my future wife in your books, now hand it over." All eyes turned to the sweating white haired man, except for Hinata who was looking at Naruto lovingly after hearing the only four lettered word she wanted to hear, wife. Jiraiya gave a guilty look as he reached into his shirt taking out his notebook and ripped out the page and handed over his research. Naruto took the page and folded it, placing it into his pocket. "Ero-sennin…" He held his hand out expectantly. "All copies, including the one in your hair."

Jiraiya looked mortified as he pulled out a notebook from his hair, one from his sleeve, another from a pants pocket, one more from his shirt and one from his sandal. everyone was surprised at the amount of 'research' Jiraiya kept on his person. Naruto removed all references to Hinata from the books after actually reading it he smiled, folded one up and handed it to Hinata, who immediately pocketed it, and then burned the rest of the pages with a small Katon jutsu. Before the question was asked Naruto answered it for them.

"Well, you see, Ero-sennin created a jutsu that copies his single notebook into 7 others so even if he looses one or has it stolen or destroyed, then he will still have his research."

'Ha, the brat is still as dense as ever, he has never found there was an 7th, and he never bothers to count' thought Jiraiya until he smelled something. "Hey, do you guys smell something burning?" he asked before he looked down. "Oh, shit, hot hot hot" He ran around the office in circles while his last notebook burned in his pants causing the whole room to shake in laughter. Deciding to help, Tsunade used a small water jutsu, in the form of a bucket, and put out the fire, but there was nothing left of the research now.

"Hey, Ero-sennin. I've changed in the past few years. I can think now as well as count." Turning serious he started in again. "So, I suppose you would like me to explain myself?"

"That would be good, but I am still glad to see you are still essentially you." Interrupted Kakashi.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei. You were so quiet; I almost forgot you were here. Why were you so quiet?" Naruto asked loudly.

"Just enjoying the show I guess." Was his reply. Naruto just shrugged it off and started his tale since he had all their attention.

* * *

"Well basically I was trying to create a new jutsu based on the kage bushin. I was attempting to make stronger versions of them so they could take much more damage, but I ran into many problems along the way. I refined it to a point where I could make two clones capable of generating their own chakra, but one looked correct while the other looked a bit faded. I just ignored that since I got what I wanted, man I was an idiot for not looking into that. Anyways, one of the interesting parts was when I dispelled them; I would get my chakra back as well, which was cool. Now another downside was the clones has to be dispelled manually meaning I needed to touch them, or they had to touch each other, to release them or I wouldn't get my chakra back. Now When I tried to give each of them more chakra to deal with, about half of what I had, I would then find myself wandering aimlessly not remembering what happened." He paused his story at that moment to reposition Hinata since she was slipping off his lap. Without looking at her he firmly grasped her scooting her further up on his lap earning a loud squeak since it was her backside that he grabbed.

"Sorry Hinata, I probably should have touched you like that." He apologized while she just looked dreamily into his eyes.

"It's alright Naruto-kun; you can touch me anywhere you want." Hinata gasped when she realized she said that out loud and found a nice deep red color for her face to turn and buried her face in Naruto's chest to hide herself. Tsunade seemed astonished at how forward she was while Jiraiya and Kakashi were giggling like little girls. Naruto being red himself decided to continue the story while stroking Hinata's back mindlessly.

"Anyways, I never got to finish the testing of it before Sasuke came near which got me the idea to create a clone to actually die by his hand so he could unlock his power, and leave the snake bastard. I knew the clone would need a lot of power so I decided to make a single clone and give it all the chakra I could spare, but things went weird when I tried that, I made two clones one about half my normal strength, who was perceived as me, and one with almost no strength, known as Rantou, while I ended up sucked into some weird place where I couldn't move or do anything but talk with the fox and see some of the surroundings. In the years I was trapped there we came up with a good reason for what happened." The soothing sound of his voice combined with the stroking of her back managed to quickly put Hinata to sleep. Naruto just smiled seeing her sleeping so peacefully and continued on.

"We figured the kage bushin was actually a form of dimensional manipulation. Every clone making jutsu, like the mitsu bushin, uses less chakra and is just as solid as the kage buishin but they can't transfer memories like kage bushin can. Another commonality between clone jutsu is the user must use a medium to for them, like water. This is where we thought that if you needed a source for them, you would also need a source for the kage bushins, and that is where the dimension comes in. Everything points to needing a small dimensional rift into a certain dimension for each clone. When the chakra is poured through the rift to form the clone, it pulls a shadow, or something like it, into our dimension to take the form of the clone, and the dimension rift remains open letting the memories to come back through when it is dispelled. That explains the smoke when one is destroyed. Where there might be a problem is if there are other things living in that dimension that could get out when a rift is created.

I was trapped in that shadow dimension and the creatures seemed harmless, but I can't be sure. Well anyways, just making the clones wont let these things out, but what I was doing was forcing more chakra through the rift making it large enough for something to enter, especially the last time. The only way I could get out of that dimension was if my clones touched each other after dying, and luckily the bodies were kept around by Hinata so it could happen. As a bonus I got all the chakra that was gained by the clones when they dispelled meaning I have about twice the chakra, and extensive knowledge of the wind element which has been quite interesting if it is combined with a few other jutsus. Even though that is a plus, the negatives out weigh it by way too much. First I cause so much pain to those that thought I died, and two, you actually think you died, and let me tell you, dying is more painful than the injuries that caused it. Between dying twice and the memories of Rantou in his life, I have become a much different person from the maturity it brought making me a lot less of an idiot."

* * *

Hinata was just waking again from her quick nap and quickly engulfed Naruto in a deep kiss once again surprising the occupants of the room, but it was going to get better since she really wasn't fully awake. She kept kissing him while running her fingers though his hair. She finally broke away and looked at him with wanting in her eyes.

"Maybe we should take this to our bedroom…" Hinata moved in and kissed him again even though his eyes were nearly outside of his head.

"H-Hinata… Are you awake?" Her eyes fully opened and she hid her head in his chest again.

"Oh god, I did it again didn't I?" she asked with her muffled voice from being buried in his clothes.

"Shhh, don't worry about it angel, you've been under much too much stress already."

"You know kid; we could always leave you two alone." Smiled the white haired pervert.

"Ero-sennin! Shut up, we have more important things to deal with. Hiashi should be here within the next 45 minutes, or so, to challenge my contract to marry Hinata which was signed by Rantou but it was basically my blood and it was signed using the symbol I use, so it is essentially signed by me."

"Well I guess that will make things easier. Kakashi, Jiraiya, you can go, but don't speak of Naruto yet, we need a plan to break the news." They were about to protest until they saw Tsunade crack her knuckles for a little emphasis, let's just say they decided to leave under their own power this time.

"Ok baa-chan, this is really going to suck, but I think we need to move to a larger room since I'm sure the entire Hyuuga council will want to be here."

"Yeah, it is true your mind works better now, you would have never thought of that before" smiled Tsunade.

"Yeah, yeah, now just shut it, let's get going." Naruto stood up and set Hinata's feet on the ground to stand, but she just stood there staring longingly at him with a slight blush covering her face "You know Hinata, you are still very cute with that blush, but we are definitely going to have to spend a lot of time together to get you healthy again so we can spar." He leaned a bit closer to her ear so only she could hear him. "And maybe if I get injured, you can give me one of those massages again" He smiled at her as he stooped closer giving her a kiss before grabbing her hand and following Tsunade into the conference room down the hall. They each took a set at one of the chairs except for Hinata who took up her spot on Naruto's lap with her arms wrapped around his neck. They really only had to wait 20 minutes before, the Hokage's assistant, Shizune, stepped into the conference room.

"Tsunade-sama, Hyuuga Hiashi and the entire Hyuuga council are here to…"Shizune's voice dropped off when she saw the blonde sitting in the room. "Naruto-kun, but how?"

"Now isn't the time for that Shizune, bring Hiashi in." interrupted Tsunade. Shizune nodded and left, moments later she returned with Hiashi and the council.

"Hokage-sama, I demand that worthless Hyuuga over there be return to the manor at once." With anger in his eyes Naruto hugged Hinata closer to him.

"I told you once and I won't say it again, if you enjoy walking, call her by her name." he calmly stated in a tone promising pain.

"He is right, she shall be referred as Hinata, and he will be referred as Naruto, no exceptions. Now what is the basis of this meeting?" demanded the Hokage.

"I challenge the validity that this boy has a contract for the female Hyuuga's hand in marriage."

"I understand that the document in question was signed in blood, therefore no forgeries can be done. Since this is the case, it will be easy to validate; where is the document." Hiashi pulled out the small scroll and handed it over to Tsunade for verification. She did a couple hand signs and the document started to emit a blue light. "Now, Naruto, place a drop of your blood next to the scroll, if it glows like the scroll, it is a match." Naruto pricked his finger and let the blood drip down. Once it came to a rest next to the document it immediately started to glow. "It is confirmed, Naruto is the signer of the contract so it is still in effect.

"Very well, she will accept disownment and the caged bird seal, and then you can have her." Hiashi stated.

"That is not acceptable. Nothing less then her being heir and marrying me will satisfy me or the contract. I'll be damned if you people get away with another generation of that stupid barbaric seal. Your children need love not constant training and discipline. You ended up forcing Hinata to become an overly shy and unconfident person because you disapproved of how caring she was. I have fought against her and lost and I would bet she could even beat you if she didn't hold back not wanting to hurt you. With her as heir and me the future Hokage, we will fix your F-ed up clan to the way it should be, a family."

"Well if that is how you want to proceed, I have no choice but to invoke an old law created by a Hokage that supersedes all other documents. It states that only the first born of a Hokage is allowed to marry the first born of the Hyuuga with out a unanimous vote in the council. But the part we like is that It also states that any previous vote taken can be overturned voiding the contract of marriage created if only one member of the clan council refuses it. Therefore I will never vote to keep the contract intact so the contract is null and void, you should have taken the offer I gave to you boy." Hiashi stood and ordered Hinata to follow, but was interrupted by maniacal laughter coming from the blonde Hokage.

"You do realize that that document only applies to the first born and heir and has no other stipulations right? Damn, Hiashi, you just brought the end to that cursed seal of yours. You acknowledged her as first born and heir in front of everyone." Her maniacal laughter brought smiles to the faces of the couple knowing there was something she was hiding that would fix it all.

"What are you talking about?" demanded the clan head.

"Let's talk hypothetically, now if you were Hokage and the only way to protect the entire village is to disown your only child and die yourself, would you do it for the protection of the village and your clan?" asked Tsunade

"Without a second thought, the village would survive and so would the child, but what does that have to do about anything?"

"It has everything to do about it. Now then, if I recall correctly, there were four children born within 12 hours of the Kyuubi attack. Now how could the Hokage sacrifice one child over the others if he was unwilling to place the burden on his own son?" most of the room turned wide eyed at the implication of what she just said.

"You can't be implying what I think you are." Hiashi stated in shock.

"No, I'm not implying it… I'm confirming it. He was to be told by his 18th birthday, but I guess you made me step it forward a few months." Tsunade cleared her throat like she was preparing a statement. "By the power granted to me by the village of Konoha, I hereby accept the marriage of Hyuuga Hinata, the undeniable heir of the Hyuuga clan to Uzumaki Naruto, only son of the Yondaime Hokage. By Hyuuga law Hinata will begin to take over the clan by her 18th birthday, and will be the full successor by age 20. As heir she will have the final say in any and all sealings with your cursed seal. Are there any objections?" all the members of the Hyuuga council hung their heads in defeat, not even they can go against the Hokage.

"No, none of us can. This is how it must be, on behalf of the council; I apologize for our behavior Hinata-sama and give you our full backing. Hiashi-sama, you are not to approach neither Hinata-sama nor her fiancé Naruto-sama. Doing so will be your downfall." Ordered the speaker of the council as they drug Hiashi out of the conference room leaving a silent blonde with his jaw still dropped.

"Um, Naruto-kun… are you ok?" Hinata asked her future husband as she pushed his jaw closed. "Hello, are you there Naruto-kun?" She still got no response so she decided to get drastic. With a smile she stole his lips, and breath, into a long heart felt kiss. When they broke apart, they were both breathing hard to catch their breath.

"Um, baa-chan?"

"Shhh, my love. Let it be for now. I know you want more answers, but I'm too tired to hear them with you and I don't want to be left out. We can return tomorrow after some sleep ok."

"Ok angel. Hey baa-chan, do you think you can spare a couple Anbu to stand guard out side her room just in case?" Tsunade just nodded and waved them out as she was going to start her search for some saké.

* * *

The engaged couple walked slowly through the darkly lit streets of Konoha back to the Hyuuga manor where they were greeted with smile from most of the Hyuuga, especially those from the branch family. They parted ways when they got to their rooms, after a quick kiss, and set in for the night. Naruto laid awake in his, Rantou's, room for the past two hours thinking of all that occurred that day when he was brought out of his thinking by the door sliding open.

"Um, N-Naruto-kun… Can I um… I can't sleep. Do you t-think I c-can sleep here?" he was kind of shocked by the request, but if that is what she needed to sleep properly.

"I guess it is ok. We are engaged anyways." Naruto slid over to the edge of the bed so Hinata, in her lavender silk nightgown, could occupy the other. Hinata was still very uncomfortable at the over one foot gap between them and wanted to be much closer.

"Um Naruto-kun, do you think you could touch me?" after she asked the question, Naruto's eyes bulged.

"Huh!? What!?" just then she realized the other meaning that the statement could hold and struggled to correct it.

"N-no, not l-like that, I'd enjoy that too much, Ahhh, no, no, no, I mean, what I meant was… I'm afraid this is all a dream and that when I wake up it will all be gone." She explained with tears falling again. "I can't sleep, because if this is a dream, I don't ever want to wake up. Could you just hold me until I wake up?" He looked over at her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer and kissed away the tears on her cheek.

"Don't worry, this isn't a dream, and I won't go anywhere my beautiful angel." He kissed her once more on the lips and hugged her tightly as she laid her head upon his chest and almost instantly fell asleep. 'Good night Hinata-chan, I guess tonight I will be your angel like you were to me' with his final thought, he too fell asleep quickly.

* * *

...Later


	11. Chapter 11

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

(Konoha) June 10 – 018 AK:

* * *

Konoha was suddenly bathed in brilliant shades of orange as the sun cast its life giving light upon the village. The village seemed to be just a bit cheerier this day as the birds were singing a happy tune no one has heard in a while. Even some of the ninjas awake that morning felt that something has changed, everything just felt… right.

The sun's rays poured in the single window of a room in the Hyuuga manor causing the stirring of a certain blonde haired shinobi. 'I feel… happy. I feel like running and jumping about the village screaming at the top of my lungs, but why am I this happy, I've never felt this way before' Naruto tried to sit up, but found a weight holding him down.

'Huh, where am I?' he thought and quickly looked around the distant yet still familiar room until his eyes locked onto the thin frame of a person causing the weight on his chest.

"Hinata, you have always been my source of happiness, I will never let you go until the day I die from old age, this I promise you." He then noticed Hinata starting to stir, but it actually looked more like trembling. Looking at her now exposed face he saw tears running out of her closed eyes.

"Naruto-kun… why am I destined to be without you?" she quietly mumbled in her sleep causing a tear to escape Naruto's eye seeing his angel this badly hurt by his actions.

"Hinata-chan wake up" he said softly trying to get her out of her dream. "Hinata, I really am here, wake up angel." Her watery lavender eyes inched open as a huge smile graced her face. Without warning she jumped on top of him quickly kissing everywhere on his face.

"I've waited to tell you this for so long, Naruto, I love you."

"I love you too Hinata mmpf…" before he could finish Hinata happily claimed his lips as her own she slightly parted her lips and snaked her tongue past his. He was surprised at this new action, but found it quite relaxing. 'And I thought nothing could taste better than ramen.' He thought before returning the kiss in full force, much to the enjoyment of the now quietly moaning heiress when a sudden intrusion was made.

"Hinata-sama, you weren't in your room so I thought you might be in…" Neji's eyes went wide as he witnessed his cousin, who could barely walk the day before, absolutely lost in making out with someone and was even on top of him. Gasping at the intrusion, Hinata covered herself with the sheets (she was still clothed).

"Neji-nii-san?" she embarrassingly shouted.

"Hey Neji, you just interrupted the best kiss in the history of Konoha!" yelled an angry blonde staring him down.

"Huh?" was all that came out before Neji dropped the tray of food he was carrying as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell face first into the food. Laughing, Naruto looked toward the very red girl.

"Well I guess you breakfast is ruined, beside I think the seasoning is just a little sour." He jokingly said while getting soft laughter from her.

"He isn't that bad anymore…. What?" she asked seeing that Naruto was staring at her.

"Well, it's um… I never have really seen you laugh; you do it so beautifully." She continued to blush from his comment. "I guess it will be my personal mission to make sure I hear that beautiful laughter everyday of my life." He leaned in like he was going for a kiss, but when she closed her eyes; he shifted and licked the tip of her nose.

"Hey Naruto-kun, that was mean, I was expecting a kiss." She giggled out

"Yeah, but you still enjoyed it didn't you?"

"Well, I guess I would like anything you do to me." She calmly stated not realizing what it could mean.

"Well Hinata, I see you have been much more confident in yourself these days."

"What do you mean?"

"Well yesterday you said I could touch you where ever I want, last night you said that you would enjoyed it if I touched you, and just now you said you would like anything I do to you."

"Ahhh, I didn't mean it, I meant that um I guess I uh…"

"Shhh, I know you meant every word of it, but there is no need to rush things. I'm still trying to sort out the memories of two people so it may be a while before I'm ready, ok."

"No, it isn't ok! I tried the slow approach and lost both of them before it got serious, I'm not going to wait too long for you before I go crazy and take you myself, got it?"

"Alright, I see your point, I won't take long to figure things out, and then you can move the relationship at whatever speed you want. Now let's get ready to find some breakfast." He pushed her towards her room and gave her a kiss for extra motivation. She left with a happy and dazed look on her face and didn't even notice she was walking on top of Neji on her way out.

Naruto started to look through the clothes in the room and found only black clothing, but of course black looks like black even when you can't see color. He found some clothes similar to what he was wearing and pulled them out and brought them with to change into after a shower. After his shower he came back out and saw that Neji was just now coming to and still had to laugh after seeing him lying there.

"Hey Neji, enjoying your breakfast? How is it?" he asked with a smile.

"How?" was all he said in response.

"I'll explain later, get your girlfriend and Gai to the conference room in the tower by noon."

"Hey, I don't have a girlfriend." He defended.

"Yeah, sure you don't. I was only dense when it came to my own relationship, not everyone else's, so just make sure you get Gai and your weapons mistress there." Naruto stepped around the reddening Hyuuga to meet his beautiful girl smiling at him from the doorway. "Well Hinata-chan, if you don't mind, I haven't been to Ichiraku's in over 4 years. It may not be the healthiest, but it sure is good." Grabbing Hinata's hand, Naruto hurried out of the manor not paying attention to what he was doing, or how fast he was running. He then noticed Hinata's labored breathing and stopped.

"You ok Hinata?"

"Yes, but you are moving too fast for me."

"I wasn't moving that fast." Hinata just pointed behind her towards the manor. Naruto realized at that point that they have traveled halfway across to village.

"I guess I was moving a little faster than I thought. If I knew I could run that fast earlier, I would have been here much sooner." Naruto started to move again, but was halted by Hinata.

"Um, actually they moved to a larger location, they are actually known as one of the best restaurants in Konoha now."

"Oh really? Where are they now?"

"Actually they are behind us." Naruto looked behind him and saw a giant restaurant nearly ten times the size it once was.

"Whoa, that's huge; I thought they may have lost business after I left."

"It probably would have, but since you left, and I guess died, almost every ninja comes here for some reason." Naruto just smiled at her and drug her into the restaurant.

* * *

"Hey Old Man!" he shouted upon entering the building causing most of the patrons to drop their eating utensils in shock.

"I'm sorry sir; you'll have to keep it down, besides father hates it when he is called old man." Sweetly announced the young girl behind the counter who just barely glanced at the new arrivals."

"Hi Ayame-chan." Greeted Hinata causing the girl to look up

"Hinata-chan! My you aren't looking too well. Haven't you eaten recently?" Ayame asked after seeing her thin form.

"Not really. After Rantou died I probably didn't eat anything at all."

"Oh, you took it real hard didn't you? I never got to meet him though." she said in very downcast voice.

"Yeah, he wasn't here long, but he is in a very good place now."

"Well that's good in a way… We don't really have any open tables right now, all that is here is the reserved one, and you know the story behind that one." Ayame frowned at the mention of that but was kind of surprised to see Hinata smiling. "Why are you smiling Hinata-chan?"

"Well it's just that my new fiancé and I will gladly take that table then."

"Huh, what? You can't be serious! You know that no one sits at that table… Wait, fiancé? You're getting married again? Who won you over so soon; it took you forever to find someone after Naruto."

"Well I'm sure my fiancé is the exception to that table rule, and for who, he is the one about to yell again."

"HEY OLD MAN, YOU'RE GETTING SLOW IN YOUR OLD AGE, I NEED 15 BOWLS OF YOUR FINEST!" Screamed Naruto in his usual impatient manner.

"Hinata-chan, are you sure you want to marry that loud mouthed blonde…wait... loud… blonde?" Ayame was finally starting to make the connection.

"Hey who the hell is calling me old, I'm the finest chef in Konoha!" shouted an old man storming out of the kitchen.

"Damn, if you took any longer, I might have died a third time, but this time by hunger." Naruto had a wide smile on his face while Hinata was laughing joyously.

"Um, Hinata-chan, am I seeing things?" asked Teuchi completely ignoring the angering blonde jumping at his side.

"No, you aren't seeing things, that is Naruto-kun."

"But, I saw his body…"

"It was my fault old man, I messed up a jutsu and ruined Hinata's life, but enough about that, she needs some food now, she needs to get her awesome figure back. Being skinnier than Ino just isn't natural."

'Did he just say I had a perfect figure?' (yes, I meant to change the word) Hinata snapped herself out of her thoughts and pulled Naruto to the empty table.

"Hey old man, you coming or am I going to go and try to cook Hinata something myself?"

"Oh yeah, sorry, what'll you have?"

"I'll start with 15 bowls of your best ramen." He stated politely and looked to Hinata. "Now angel, don't try to be all proper around here, you need lots of food, so you aren't leaving here until you're stuffed." Hinata nodded and began her order.

"I'll take some biscuits with some sweet bean jam and I'll take 3 bowls of beef ramen, and I'll finish it off with a side of rice."

"Hey old man, make sure that she gets extra meat in hers, she needs the protein for her muscles." Naruto voiced still smiling

"Sure thing, is there anything you like better than ramen Naruto?" Asked teuchi trying to match the blonde's smile.

"Well yeah, come to think of it, I think Hinata's kisses taste much better." He said slightly embarrassed while Hinata just choked on her water she was trying to drink. Ayame just smiled while Teuchi dropped his notebook like he just died. "What? I think they do alright? Now just get cooking." Shaking his head, Teuchi went to the kitchen to prepare the huge lunch ordered.

* * *

It was about 11:00 by the time they finished their meal and explained lightly about the jutsu that was messed up. They both ended up leaving completely stuffed and without even paying a cent.

"Hey Hinata-chan, I think it's about time to round up the others, do you think you can get a message out to Sakura and Ino's team, I'll take care of the rest.." Hinata looked at him and saw the look on his face.

"Sure, I'll take care of it, but don't get them too wound up."

"Don't worry, it'll be worth it." With a kiss, they parted ways to get the other friends.

Naruto's first stop was to try and find the annoying green clad training monster, but he ran across Kiba and Shino training while Kurenai watched them from a ways away. Not having something thought up for them, he just opted for leaving a message. He snuck up and silently tapped her on the shoulder scaring the hell out of her. When she turned she saw nothing but a message.

'Bring bug boy and dog breath to the conference room in the Hokage tower for a meeting by noon' read the message. She pocketed the note trying to figure out how someone could sneak up on her, a freakin Jonin, but shrugged it off.

Naruto continued his search until he unexpetantly came a across the dark haired Uchiha. 'Well they definitely accepted you back with open arms, but have you truly changed? Man, I'm going to haunt your ass.' Naruto ran off using his speed and a weak undetectable genjutsu used by Jiraiya for his research.

* * *

"Sasuke…" he whispered with his voice seemingly on the wind. "Sasuke…" he whispered again, this time getting his attention. "Sasuke…" he whispered once more as a gust of wind ruffled his hair sending a chill up his spine. Sasuke still couldn't sense anyone, and it irritated him. "Why, Sasuke…" was whispered again.

"Who's there?" The Uchiha asked while looking in every direction for the bearer of the voice.

"You killed me…" was the whispered response.

"What do you mean?"

"You killed your friend for power…"

"N-Naruto?" he asked slightly scared.

"You killed me and insulted the one that cared for me the most…" came the ghostly voice again.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Hinata…"

"Hinata?" he wondered, looking dumbfounded.

"Why… why… why…" NAruto whispered again.

"Why what?" Sasuke screamed into the air as passersby looked at him strangely.

"Why did you hurt her like that?... she never did anything to you… why… why…" Sasuke snapped after hearing the questions coming from all sides of him driving him crazy.

"It was the only way I could cope alright. I never wanted to kill the one person might have known how I felt. I wanted to kill my brother, but ended killing the person I had closest to that, so what do you want me to do?" he yelled as he fell to the ground with his eyes closed and grabbing his head hoping to fend off the spirit.

"Apologize to her… apologize in front of everyone… they'll all be at the Hokage tower by noon… go." With that final message the wind died down and it was gone.

* * *

"Alright, maybe a little too far, but at least I know I didn't sacrifice myself for nothing, now where's bushy brows?" Wondered naruto as he laughed at the reaction of Sasuke. Who would have thought that the almighty last Uchiha was afraid of ghosts. With only 5 minutes until noon, Naruto saw the green ninja out for a run as he continued looking for his friends. After a quick henge, he decided to test out his new speed and ran up to Lee.

"Hey, you're pretty fast, care for a race?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"Yosh, the spirit of youth will propel me to victory. If I do not win, I will run 20 laps around Konoha on my knees, if I can't do that I'll…"

"Yeah, whatever. Race you to Hokage tower."

"You're on." Lee took off in a cloud of smoke with Naruto not far behind. Naruto was actually amazed at the speed he was going when he paid attention to it. He caught up to Lee and smiled at him.

"Can't you go faster? I'm barely breaking a sweat here." He yelled while passing Lee

"Ah, I shall show you the power of my youth!" Kicking it into high gear, Lee blurred by in a cloud of dust.

"I think he has gotten faster, let's see how much speed I gained as well." It looked like two twisters were ripping through the village with the amount of dust being picked up. Naruto once again caught up to Lee and knew there was much more speed left in him.

"I guess you won't win since you are still wearing your weights, too bad, I'll race you again ok?" All Lee saw was a tornado of dust in front of him and then nothing.

"What great speed! His youth burns brightly!" he screamed still headed for the tower. Moments later Lee arrived at the tower finding the whole group there. "Yosh, the youthful power has attracted everyone here at once!" he screamed catching the attention of a larger green clad ninja.

"Lee?"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei"

"You two knock it off and get up here before I smash you both through the wall!" shouted Sakura cracking her knuckles as everyone ran into the tower in full retreat.

* * *

Everyone entered the conference room the only people missing were Konohamaru's team (and of course Kakashi since he already knew and was always late anyways), since they were on a mission with Iruka substituting, and those that already know the story from the previous night. Hinata was already in the room when they arrived, and with the little genjutsu , they didn't even notice Naruto was in there as well.(This is one of only two genjutsu he will know, it basically causes someone to not pay attention to the person almost thinking they aren't there) When they took their seats, most gasped when they say Hinata looking so thin.

"Hinata, what the hell happened to you, you don't look so good" asked Sakura clearly concerned.

"Yeah, you're too thin, and coming from me that isn't good." Chimed in Ino.

"Um, yeah, I took Rantou's death really hard, I didn't leave my room at all, not even to eat, so that is how I got so thin. I just gave up on life until I found a reason to live again. Also my clan wanted to put the caged bird seal on me, but at my age there was only a 33 percent chance of survival, and that was on a perfectly healthy person. They were basically sentencing me to death in the state I was in, and if I did survive I would have nearly been a slave." She explained while some of the group got angered.

"Oh, hell no, I wouldn't allow it right Akamaru?" Kiba shouted.

"That is very kind of you to say Kiba-kun, but that was yesterday." Hinata informed him.

"Huh, you mean you could have been dead already and we wouldn't have known? How are you ok and without the seal then?" Asked Sakura, just then the door opened revealing a dark haired guy.

"I'm glad you are ok Hinata." Everyone turned to the door hearing that voice to find none other than Sasuke standing there.

"Sasuke?" they all asked in unison not believing he would say anything like that.

"What are you doing here Sasuke, you weren't invited." Hinata scowled at him angrily. 'I hope you know what you're doing Naruto-kun' she thought before Sasuke started speaking again.

"This is very hard for me to say… Hinata, I apologize."

"Apologizing for what exactly?" she asked following Naruto's plan.

"I apologize for bad mouthing Naruto when he didn't deserve it, and to you for thinking you were weak for loving him." Hinata's scowl turned to a smile.

"Thank you Sasuke-kun, you really have changed for the better. You may stay." She told him doing a complete 180 surprising him.

"Huh?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Damn it Sasuke-kun, sit your ass down you're interrupting the story." Sakura screamed as she yanked him down into the chair next to her so Hinata could continue.

"Well before getting the seal, we found there was an old Hyuuga law that basically states if the heir of our clan agrees to marry the first born of a Hokage, then there is no way the clan council deny the marriage nor strip the status from the heir."

"Where are you going to find a first born of a Hokage? Either they are too old or don't exist?" asked the lazy chuunin actually interested in the story now.

"I didn't have to find one, he found me. He came in and threatened each of the Hyuuga council with death if they were to touch me from that point forward."

"Hiashi-sama did nothing?" asked a stunned Neji since he took off to not witness what happened to her, but knew something big was going to be revealed about Naruto, since he saw him earlier.

"No, they couldn't. Each one had a powerful jutsu pointed at them."

"Alright another powerful rival! I shall challenge him to a contest of youthfulness!" Lee shouted standing up giving his good guy pose.

"Go for it Lee!" shouted Gai returning the pose.

"Um, Lee-san, you already lost a race to him earlier." Hinata stated with a smile.

"What!?" everyone shouted in unison.

"He's faster than Lee?" asked Tenten in pure disbelief.

"I'm afraid so, his youthful power out shined mine this day, but I shall challenge him again and if I do not beat him I will…" everyone told him to shut up before he got too carried away.

"Well ok, but what does he look like? Whose son is he? Can you actually marry him so soon, do you even like him?" rattled off Ino.

"We really only found out about who his father was yesterday and it is still a village secret, so you can't tell anyone about it." Getting just a nod of understanding, Hinata continued.

"Well I can say that I love him with all my heart. There could never be a person in existence that could come close to the feelings I have for him. He is kind, handsome, cares for everyone, and won't let anything happen to ones he cares about if he can. Most of all he is intelligent and strong, and is the son of the Yondaime Hokage." she told them in a slightly dreamy way.

"What? The fourth never had a son, well I never heard of one. And you're saying you love this guy more than Naruto? I can't believe that!" shouted Sakura in a slight rage.

"You never knew he was the fourth's son, none of us knew. At birth his name was changed to protect him from enemies of the Hokage. As it stands, he is the only living hero of Konoha and is a greater hero than even the fourth."

"Are you crazy Hinata!? The Yondaime was the greatest hero in the history of Konoha." Once again shouted the pink haired medic.

"No Sakura, the Yondaime only gave his life to protect the village, his son gave every second of his _entire_ life in the protection of this village and is still doing it to this day."

"But how can a person protect a village when he was a baby?" she asked again always jumping at the chance to be, well, Sakura.

"That's easy Sakura-chan." Naruto stated bringing attention to himself, but his back was facing the group.

"What the hell? Who are you and when did you get here?"

"I've been here from the start." He walked up to Hinata, with his back still facing the group and gave her a lengthy kiss astonishing the attendees. He looked out the window still not facing the room and continued. "The only way for a child to protect a village is if something dangerous is sealed inside of him."

* * *

...Later


	12. Chapter 12

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

"You mean like a demon, like what was inside Naruto?" Sakura questioned again.

"Yes, actually exactly like Naruto. I have a being of immense power locked inside of me. My father could have chosen any of the other children born that day, but he could never ask anyone to give their child to hold this burden if he could do it to his own. This is why the most powerful demon was sealed in me. It isn't because of this reason that Hinata loves me, it is actually because I contain every quality Naruto and Rantou ever had. I'm still confused with some parts of my heritage, but that I can find later."

"Ok, that's good and all, but the strongest of the demons is the Kyuubi, so who are you? You better answer or I'll bash your face in." Sakura pounded he fist into the palm of her other hand in a threatening manner

"Whatever, wouldn't be the first time, but my demon isn't stronger than the Kyuubi, because it is the Kyuubi. I guess you can call me Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde turned and faced the room. Suddenly a girl's scream was heard.

"Ahhh, a ghost, Ahhh!"

"Uh, Sasuke-_chan_? You ok?" Naruto asked before Sasuke fell to the ground unconscious. "I think I may have over done that prank earlier Hinata-chan." Hinata was having troubles containing her laughter after hearing Sasuke scream like a girl.

"Naruto-kun, I don't think Sakura likes the female Sasuke, you might want to run." Hinata warned after seeing that look.

"What do you mean Hinata… oof." Sakura punched him full on in the stomach when he wasn't paying attention.

"NARUTO!"

"Easy there Sakura-chan (cough) It isn't my fault Sasuke is afraid of ghosts." He told her stifling a laugh.

"Sasuke-kun isn't afraid of anything, besides how are you alive?"

"Well that is a weird story… Hey is everyone still conscious?" He looked over the room and saw everyone was pale looking forward with creepy looking eyes. "I guess they are all shocked."

"I'm still alert Naruto." Calmly stated Neji.

"Oh, I didn't notice you. You are always pale and looking around with those creepy eyes."

"Naruto you idiot! My eyes are identical to Hinata's are you saying she is creepy too?" Neji asked in a manner unbefitting of a Hyuuga

"Um, no. Her eyes are gentle and cute, yours are nowhere near the same, she is a bit weird though."

"You still think I'm weird?" Hinata asked slightly saddened.

"Yep, about as weird as they come."

"But why Naruto-kun?"

"Well you do seem to like this." Naruto leaded towards her and licked the tip of her nose again getting the same giggle from earlier.

"Eww, Naruto!" screamed Sakura

"What? See she liked it. I think we are the perfect weird couple, right Hinata mmpf." Hinata pulled him into a deep kiss surprising him again. A chorus of 'aww's' and 'get a room' were heard bringing them out of the kiss since everyone recovered from the shock. Naruto sat down again with Hinata taking her spot on his lap and buried her face in his neck while he explained everything to the group while stroking her back. After a satisfied sigh, Hinata fell asleep.

"This is weird Naruto." commented the skinny blonde.

"What do you mean Ino?"

"Well it is just that we haven't seen you acknowledge Hinata before, and here you are clearly in love with her, it is just strange."

"I guess I see what you're saying. I did notice her, but I never noticed what she actually meant to me until a while later. Also Rantou's feelings for her uncovered mine further when his experiences retuned after the jutsu was canceled. I just wish I didn't hurt her so bad. It'll be a long while before she gets closer to normal." Just then he felt something very soft press against his neck.

"Just stay close to me and I should be fine." She told him as she kissed his neck again, mostly asleep, and fell back into slumber.

* * *

Naruto answered all their questions, which were quite a few, until the group started to get hungry since it was almost 5:00. Deciding that Hinata has gotten enough sleep for the time being he decided to wake her.

"It's time to wake up angel." he whispered while gently shaking her body she slowly came to and smiled at still being in his lap.

"Hey Choji." He called out after she was awake. "I need your help with Hinata's training."

"So –munch- What do you –munch- need me for?

"Well, Hinata-chan needs to put on some lean weight so I thought you were the best with figuring out how she should do that."

"Yes –munch- I see –munch- the best way is to eat plenty –munch- of lean meats."

"Ah so you're saying the best thing for her would be to go to, say, an all-you-can-eat-barbeque?" At the mention of that, flames grew in the eyes of the large ninja.

"Yes, yes, yes, BARBEQUE!" Choji rocketed out of the door faster than Lee while Ino approached Naruto while a shout dealing with youthfulness was heard beyond the door as well.

"Um, Naruto, can I …" before her question came out she was interrupted.

"Yes you can bring him if you want." he replied without needing to hear the rest of the question.

"But how do you…"

"Shhh, I'm not dimwitted like they think I am." He told her looking around suspiciously until he chuckled to a baffled Ino as the awake Hinata clung to his arm. They followed the dust caused by Choji and Lee while they were racing to the Barbeque restaurant. When they caught up to them, Lee was sitting on the ground crying.

"Gai-sensei, I've failed you. I lost two races in one day, I'm not worthy anymore." Gai just walked up to his student and kicked him in the jaw sending him flying.

"Lee I will not let you extinguish your flames of youth like that; we shall training twice as hard from now on!" Gai screamed out while giving the nice guy pose. Lee, with tears in his eyes embraced his teacher in a hug."

"Gai-sensei"

"Lee"

"Gai-sensei."

"And he wonders why he doesn't have a girlfriend." Naruto announced with the rest of the group nodding in agreement.

* * *

The group entered the restaurant and sat and talked about the circumstances of Naruto's return. Since Rantou had no access to intelligence reports and Hinata was with drawn from everyone, they had no idea of what threats were left and had them fill them in. After hearing Akatsuki was defeated, Naruto was slightly disappointed but also relieved. Even though he didn't know it at the time, Naruto played the largest role in the downfall of the organization. When the leader realized the Kyuubi was lost, he had nothing left so he went insane and killed all his underlings and then killed himself. Somehow Itachi managed to get away and hasn't been seen since.

After all was discussed, Naruto left with Hinata feeling a sense of safety and belonging like he hasn't felt before. It was still a little early in the night so the couple decided to go for a walk around Konoha while they talked.

"Um, Naruto-kun…" Hinata eyed her love trying to figure how to word her question.

"What made you love me the way you do? I felt the unspoken love from Rantou, and clearly you love me very much now, so you had to have felt these feelings before right?" Naruto smiled at her with a smile that would melt any girl's heart.

"I really don't know. I don't know how feelings work but one thing I do know about you is that you were always very cute when we were younger. You have most likely read my journal, so you know I have always noticed you, but it was your caring and the feeling I would get when you would watch me train after the academy that helped. You may have gained strength from me, but I learned what love was before I even knew exactly what it was from you. Even though I was mostly dense to your feelings, when I look back, I knew I cared for you even when I didn't know what that feeling was." Hinata stared at him lovingly realizing that he did notice her but it did bring some sadness.

"And to think, if I could have been a little more confident, I could have had you sooner." she said slightly distraught

"Hey don't dwell on that, we can't change the past, but we sure can have one hell of a future."

"Yeah," She replied while her cheeks turned red after thinking of some more intimate actions she was looking forward to doing until Naruto broke her away from her thoughts.

"Say, Hinata-chan, did you ever wonder why there was even a law created between a Hokage and your clan? I think it is way too convenient that there just happened to be one, and that I just happened to be a Hokage's son."

"That is a bit strange, but I don't care, as long as I can be with you, I just wish I didn't have to suffer your death twice."

"I wish there was a way to ease your pain that I caused, if there was a way to make it up to you I would." His happiness he felt was fading at the mention of that.

"Don't beat yourself up on that my love." She smiled sensually at him before taking him into a kiss. "I think I can come up with a couple things for you to make it up to me." She purred into his ear as she caressed his cheek. Her strange actions made Naruto quite wary of her.

"And what might those ideas be?"

"That's my secret, but I assure you it won't cause displeasure." she said with an alluring smile.

"That isn't helping and stop with that sexy smile and stuff, it's getting a bit too exciting." She caught his meaning and blushed while keeping the smile on in full force.

"Well, I'll stop exciting you if you stop exciting me." She then brought him to the attention that he was stroking her butt instead of her back like he was earlier

"Oh, sorry." He muttered out and withdrew his hand.

"Who said you could stop?" she complained. This conversation was easily getting the two heated up and who knows how it may have escalated if the heavens hadn't opened up releasing a torrential downpour upon them. They screamed out in surprise and then faded into laughter as they giggled and ran back to the Hyuuga manor getting drenched in the rain. (ever notice how most stories found don't have any weather patterns? It is always sunny in most of them...)

'Hopefully this cold rain will cool us off a bit, especially her. I don't need a horny Hinata this close to bed time; besides, I don't think she can handle that much in her weakened state.' He dropped out of his thoughts when he noticed he was standing outside of his bedroom door staring at a damp Hyuuga girl that looked like she was waiting for an answer.

"Um, what was that again? I was lost in thought." She was bright red and it didn't change as she needed to repeat herself.

"I asked if I could possibly, um, bring some stuff in here?" she was still red and Naruto was just smiling at her.

"You know you are just so cute when you blush."

"Um, thank you. Good night Naruto-kun." She turned to leave until she was interrupted.

"I never answered your question Hinata-chan, but I have a feeling you want something more than to bring some stuff in here." He sighed not believing what he was going to say.

"If it will help, you are welcome here." Hinata knew what he was trying to say, but wanted to hear the exact words from him and started to push it.

"I don't quite understand what you are saying." she lied

"Oh, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm saying."

"No, I'm still a bit lost." Naruto decided it was best to give in before she did something, weird.

"Yes, Hinata, you can stay in this room if you desire." Hinata was enjoying her game and decided to push it even further.

"Um, so where will I sleep, and how long can I stay?" she asked innocently.

"You are evil, you know that? You want me to say it? Fine. You can stay in here with me sleeping in the same bed with me for as long as you want, you happy now?"

"Yes very much." She giggled "but I'm far from satisfied." This time she fully knew the meaning of what she said as she pushed by the stunned blonde and went in to shower. She came back out in a warm bath robe and left to get some clothing and stuff from her room while Naruto showered. He returned after his shower and saw his beautiful angel in her silky night gown putting away some clothes in the cabinet. Doing his best to ignore her form, he jumped into bed and covered himself quickly. Hinata frowned at him ignoring her, but knew why he was. She soon slipped under the sheets right next to him and looked accusingly at him.

"Do you really think you can get away without giving me a goodnight kiss?" she asked while smiling with her sexy smile.

"No, I guess not." He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the lips, but his plan backfired as she grabbed his head and held him tight to her lips. Naruto unknowingly let his hand harmlessly land on her bare knee, but it didn't go unnoticed by her. Seeing this as a perfect chance for something, more, she slowly slid his hand further up her leg. Naruto was enjoying the kiss and was gently sucking on her bottom lip when he felt his hand get a bit warmer than usual and stopped it from going further disappointing Hinata.

"Please. Why did you stop?" she asked with a wanting face.

"Why do you push for this so fast?" he wondered since for him he has only been back for a few days.

"I told you before I'm not waiting like I did previously. I promise I won't push for sex until we're married, so just help me this one time." Naruto shook his head in response getting the familiar sad look in her eyes.

"I don't think you are well enough to handle it." Hinata felt defeat coming, but that quickly left when his hand lightly stroked her thigh. "If this would make you happy, I suppose we can see how you take to it."

* * *

(The following paragraph or two could be considered lemon-lime, not quite a lemon, but a little more than lime)

Hinata smiled and nodded happily as his hand glided higher up her thigh. He continued to tease her by sliding his hand within an inch of where she wanted it to go just to slide back away causing her to wiggle in protest. Finding it amusing how much she enjoyed this touch he decided to finally see how much she would enjoy what she wanted. He slid his hand all the way up her leg and came into contact with her sensitive skin causing a tiny moan to escape her lips. Realizing the sensitivity of her skin, he lightly slid his fingers up and down the flesh of her opening as her moans got louder. He traveled around stroking her soft flesh until he reached a point where she let out a joyous scream of pleasure.

Her loud scream was quickly muffled when Naruto kissed her hard. He pushed his tongue past her lips and she happily accepted it while using her own to caress his, still muffling the uncontrolled moans. He continued massaging her moist opening as she started to writhe in pleasure while holding his tongue captive by gently sucking on it while enjoying his touch. Hinata's breathing got quicker and shallower as her moans turned into full out screaming while she bucked her hips and arched her back letting out an absolute blissful scream still muffled by the unbroken kiss. She finally relaxed on the bed still mindlessly sucking on his tongue until she noticed it and released him.

* * *

"Sorry," she muttered in between pants.

"Sorry? For what? You can't do anything wrong in these situations unless it causes unnecessary pain, and that tongue thing you did was amazing. So, did you enjoy yourself?"

"Mmmm" she dreamily moaned, "immensely." She got out before falling asleep. He slid his damp hand out from between her legs getting a slight grunt from the loss of contact from her sleeping form. He pushed her legs closer together and tugged her gown back down to her knees and then fell asleep himself.

* * *

(Konoha) June 11 – 018 AK:

* * *

The morning was dark and overcast from the night's rainstorm blocking out most of the sun's powerful rays for most of the day. It was nearly 1pm and for the past 4 hours Naruto has been sitting in a chair across the room from the bed looking at his sleeping fiancé. Apparently Hinata was having some very interesting dreams since there was a constant smile plastered on her face accompanying some quiet moans as she would snuggle into the sheets of the bed.

"Mmm, Naruto-kun." She sleepily mumbled while a hand struck out feeling the bed next to her finding nothing but air. "No, please no, it felt so real this time." She curled up into a ball and started crying. Immediately Naruto jumped from his chair and ran to her pulling the crying ball to him.

"Shh, it's ok." He said gently stroking her soft hair and cradling her small body. "Shh, I'm here, you aren't dreaming." Her pale eyes crept open to stare at the source of the comforting voice.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"Yes, I'm here. Do you think you will ever stop thinking it is all a dream?"

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun. It's… I've just been dreaming of being with you for so long that I can't tell when it is real or not." he was slightly bewildered by her statement, but smiled anyways.

"Well I do know that you and I are real and um… what you experienced last night was real as well." Hinata gasped with her eyes wide and a blush spreading across her face.

"B-but I thought for sure that was a dream."

"Huh? Hinata, how long have you had these dreams, and um… how far have we gotten in your dreams?" if it was even possible she turned even redder.

"W-well, I-I-I-I Um…."

"It's ok, you don't have to talk about it, it doesn't change anything" he told her so she wasn't uncomfortable.

"N-no! I need to tell you, it might actually help me to tell you what I dream." Naruto got off of the bed and sat down in the chair again.

"Sure, go ahead then." Hinata was unhappy at being left and got up and sat on his lap like usual. Since her gown was slippery she had troubles staying on his lap until he firmly held her there by her bottom getting a slight squeak and a smile.

"I've probably been dreaming of you for about 10 years, but it was only in the last 4 years that they got just a bit more intimate with the touching. In my dreams we have only gotten as far as we did last night. It is hard to dream accurately when I have no idea what you look like… um… you know."

"So you are saying that I only pleasured you… are you secretly selfish then?" he questioned with a joking grin.

"No, that's not true! It's just that I've never been with a guy, so I don't know how things work exactly… Hey why are you laughing at me?"

"Sorry, but I just meant it as a joke, I wasn't intending you to answer. Besides, I'm sure you'll be able to figure out the how quickly since I've never been with a girl, but you sure seemed to enjoy yourself with my little knowledge."

"Um… yes, thank you. Do you think we can do that again?" she asked quietly hoping to not be heard.

"No, I don't think so."

"Why? It felt so good." she sighed burying her blushing face into him.

"How tired do you feel?"

"Very… Is that from my…um…"

"Probably, it is already past noon, you have been sleeping a long while." he informed her

"But it still felt good."

"I'm sure it did, but I think it is still too hard on your weakened body. I'm going to leave and get you some food and talk with Tsunade a bit, do you think you can handle sleeping here with out me?" she looked slightly unhappy at that, but decided it was probably for the better.

"Yes, I think I can manage. You are just so thoughtful and caring of me, I love you."

"I love you too, see you soon." Naruto stood up and carried her back to the bed and set her down under the covers and kissed her forehead and went to leave but she grabbed him and gave him a real kiss.

"Now, you can go." She said smiling at him. He grinned wildly back and took off running to the tower.

* * *

He found out he has a lot more patience than he used to since when he got to Tsunade's office, he actually stopped and knocked at the door and came in after getting the command to do so.

"Hello Hokage-sama."

"What the hell Naruto? You're actually polite, that isn't a good sign." That statement drew a smile from the blue eyed blonde as he drew in a large amount of air to yell at the cringing Hokage knowing what was coming.

"WHAT THE HELL BAA-CHAN? ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU KNEW WHO MY PARENTS WERE AND NO ONE TOLD ME?!" he screamed first but immediately lowered his voice some, "I'm sure it could have been dangerous for me, but I've been looking all my life for that information!" Like turning off a switch, Naruto calmed down completely and sat in one of the chairs.

"So, do you think you can tell me about them?" he asked in a clam voice.

"Damn brat." Tsunade yelled while trying to get the ringing out of her ears. "You really have matured. I was expecting you to rudely yell that two days ago, but you actually waited until we were alone to blow up at me. Really there isn't anything I'm allowed to tell you until your birthday, but most of your answers will be revealed then."

"Well crap, that's a waste. Then do you think someone could teach me a sound proofing jutsu?"

"What do you need one of those for?" Naruto turned red in embarrassment as he thought about what it was needed for.

"Well um, you see, it's for um…" she grinned as she interrupted his babbling

"You think she is going to be that noisy huh?"

"Um… well she is." he relented cautiously.

"What!? You've been here for only two days and you've had sex already?" The Hokage screamed.

"No! We haven't had sex… yet, but she is quite noisy when we're kissing, I can only imagine how loud she will be when she is more… excited."

"Alright, I'll get you a scroll on that, but just don't push her into doing that yet; there is plenty of time for that after you're married."

"Well thanks, but I'm not the one that will be doing the pushing" Naruto stood and silently left the room giving a slight wave on his way out.

'It's always the quiet girls' Tsunade thought smiling.

* * *

(moments later Hyuuga Manor)

* * *

"Hiashi-sama, where are you going? Asked a white eyed servant.

"Going to take out the trash, now leave me or die." he ordered while bringing up a certain set of hand signs.

"Yes, my lord." Hiashi stormed down the empty hall since everyone was out for the day. He stood outside of a bedroom door before flinging it open with a loud racket.

"Hello my demon whore. Conceive any demons yet?" pale eyes snapped open with a gasp as they looked into the older man's face.

"Father, what are you doing here?" she demanded

"I see you're lying with the demon already." he commented venomously.

"Not like it is any of your business, but we haven't had sex yet."

"Nor will you" he replied as Hinata stood up next to the bed.

"What are you talking about?" she nearly demanded.

"You think you can stand up to me you weak little whore? You are in range of my divination…" Hinata was struck quickly, closing off her chakra points causing her to not be able to move as she fell limp back on the bed.

"Why father?" she weekly asked.

"I found I was left with two choices to get a strong heir: one I could kill you now and Hanabi will be heir, or two you could lay with me and create a new heir." He gives her a lecherous grin completely grossing her out. (My apologies this is just needed to illustrate the darkening influence of a new enemy, and no he will never get that far)

"I'm your daughter, how could you even suggest that?"

"You are not my daughter; you are just another female as far as I'm concerned. So what have you decided?" Hiashi stood looking at her with his Byakugan still on hoping to instill fear into her.

"I will choose death of course, just kill me and get it over with."

"Very well, but I do believe it is unfair to let a woman leave this world as a virgin." Hiashi walked away locking the door and approached the side of the bed grabbing the hem of her gown as she screams in protest, but gets a cloth shoved in her mouth to muffle her screams. He pulls her gown to just below her breasts and stares at her womanhood. "I see you must have been dreaming of your demon, you are wet already, this will make it much easier. Hiashi loosens his robe just as he hears a sound from the direction of the door.

"Rasengan!" The door was shredded into pieces revealing a very pissed off blonde. "I told you before, if you ever touched her, I will kill you, and you planned on raping my future wife. As a ninja of the village hidden in the leaves, I find you guilty of attempted rape, torture of an innocent, child negligence, attempted murder, and being a poor excuse for a human. I hereby sentence you to death under the laws written by the Hokages." A blue sphere jumped into existence as he looked at the condemned man.

"Rasengan!" - "Kaiten!" the blue sphere met the Hyuuga's ultimate defense blasting both back in a complete stalemate while the blast sent Hinata towards Naruto while he dove in and caught her before landing.

"Please don't kill him, he is still my father." she begged looking into his eyes.

"Like he even could, I'm near Kage level, I am beyond him. Don't worry I won't kill your demon yet, he has to stay and watch me break you in." (Hold out a little longer guys, he will be dying)

"I'm sorry I can't let him live. He is a threat to the village and you. If he isn't destroyed, he will come back for you. Besides a real father wouldn't think of touching his daughter like that." Hinata let the tears flow knowing he was right but still had a shred of caring for her father, no matter how small it is.

"You're right Naruto-kun, he isn't my father; he died when my mother did. Please don't get hurt Naruto-kun." She reached up with all her strength and kissed his cheek. Naruto set her on the ground and faced Hiashi with anger rising in his eyes.

"Well it looks like your pardon doesn't arrive today." Another ball of chakra formed in his hand as he readied his jutsu.

"I've already proven the uselessness of your jutsu, what makes you think this time will be any different?" Hiashi informed cockily.

"Easy, I didn't live a few years of my life as a wind master and not learn a thing or two about using the wind element." Wind picked up in the room as it gathered towards the sphere gathered in his palm shooting large blades outwards from the ball slowly revolving around it. "Now die for your crimes!" Naruto charged the Hyuuga head as he started his defense.

"Kaiten!" smirking, Naruto thrust his palm towards the chakra wall.

"Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!" his jutsu contacted the defense and pushed Hiashi into the outside wall as the true power came to bear tearing the entire wall off the room shredding the bed in the process. The jutsu followed Hiashi out the hole in the wall and slammed into the ground. Tiles flew off the roof and branches were ripped from the trees while the ground shook causing damage to the manor's foundation. Hinata, eyes wide and mouth open, gasped at the massive crater left in the courtyard after getting movement back from the tenketsu attack. But didn't notice a dark moving shadow disappearing into the dust. (HA, ha, the influencing shadow again... I told you all that you would see it again, more will be found out next chapter, I think)

"Naruto-kun!" she screamed as she ran to the edge of the crater trying to look though the dust. Finally a dark figured appeared and approached the slightly scared heiress.

"Are you alright Hinata?" asked the form.

"Naruto-kun!" she tackled him laying multiple kisses on his face before ending with a long tongue infused kiss. Their make out session was cut short when they heard a huge commotion.

"Whoo, yeah. You get him girl!" was heard above the other cheering of the branch members and some of the villagers. Apparently the jutsu was felt over a great distance bringing people to the manor from all around. The two stood looking at the group completely red faced when Tsunade charged into the area followed by Anbu and stopped in front of them. Tsunade eyed the mangled body at the bottom of the crater and turned to the couple.

"You were just in my office 25 minutes ago and now you've killed someone. Who was it and explain why you shouldn't be arrested." Tsunade demanded.

"Well baa-chan you see…"

"Shut it! This is serious! You could be executed if this was who I think it is." she interrupted.

"No, you shut it!" screamed Hinata getting shocked gasps from everyone hearing the quiet girl yell louder than many can. "Naruto-kun saved me again. This time he was going to rape and then kill me." She whispered out while Tsunade's anger grew to unfathomable heights.

"How dare he! I have half a mind to figure a way to bring him back to life just so I can kill him myself and then bring him back again so I can cut off his balls and shove them down his throat." Tsunade calmed down after seeing Hinata clinging to her future husband like he was her only lifeline that was going to be torn away. "Hinata, don't worry. Under these new circumstances he won't be arrested." The crowd dispersed, after a glare from Tsunade, and Naruto just stood there with Hinata clinging to him.

"Alright, we have a guy that has died at least twice, holds the most powerful demon in existence, finds out he is the son of the Yondaime and is marrying the heiress of a powerful clan who has been nearly raped and killed by her own father. I think we are going to need a lot of psychiatric counseling." After his statement he fell backwards out of exasperation not realizing Hinata was still hanging on him as she flopped, face first, on top of him.

"Um, Hi." She said looking into his blue eyes.

"Hi yourself." Was his reply as he licked the tip of her nose getting a giggle from her turning into full out laughter.

'Yes, counseling it is' thought Tsunade as she wandered away from the mess to avoid the cleanup.

* * *

...Later


	13. Chapter 13

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 018 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 018 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 18

* * *

(Konoha) Oct 10 – 018 AK:

* * *

Months have passed and most everything is back as it should be. Hinata rebounded back to her normal healthy self and has very few emotional scars left after the counseling she went through, some even included Naruto. The couple still lives at the Hyuuga manor in a very large, newly renovated bedroom, the old room that was destroyed and Hinata's room were combined. Even though Hinata has proven her healthy status, she hasn't ever gotten a repeat of the actions from before no matter how hard she tried to seduce him, well I guess she didn't try everything…yet.

As training goes, Hinata is back to kicking ass and Naruto has managed to use Rantou's swords by channeling the Kyuubi's chakra, who has been completely silent and allows free access to the chakra since Naruto's new level of chakra has strngthened the seal. Even though today is October 10, Naruto hasn't realized it is his birthday since he never really celebrated it and the past years he had no idea when it was, so I guess that is why the blonde is currently training with his dark haired beauty.

"Naruto-kun, I want to see how strong you really are, come at me with everything you have." Demanded Hinata as she wiped some sweat from her brow.

"I'm afraid not, I will never come at you with absolutely everything, you will get hurt." He replied angering the heiress.

"Do you still think I'm weak? Now do it!" She commanded causing Naruto's face to frown.

"No, you were never weak, but you will never be able to defend against all my strength. It isn't about techniques or skill since you have large amounts of both, you may even be at the level of Tsunade right now." Hinata's eyes grew in size at that comment.

"Are you kidding?"

"No, your strength is unrivaled, but you don't have the near limitless chakra reserves to hold out against me. From what I see my own chakra is nearly three times the amount you have, and then you add in Kyuubi's… if I were to put most of it into a single attack, no one can survive."

"I won't accept your reasoning until I see it myself. I'm not saying you're lying, but I just want to know how much you actually have." she replied, standing here ground on the topic.

"Fine then, be stubborn. I will attack with one special punch at about fifty percent. Defend with your strongest defense." Naruto stepped into a ready stance waiting for her to do the same.

"Thank you." She said as she activated her Byakugan "Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō" the razor like bolts of chakra formed in front of her sparkling with sheer energy from the amount of chakra being poured into the jutsu.

"Prepare yourself Hinata!" Naruto clenched his right fist as it started to glow red until red flames of chakra surrounded his entire arm "Fist of the Demon Lord!" Naruto's fist collided with the barrier completely stopping it dead in his tracks. "Now be careful…. Release!" the barrier pulsed once before it was covered in with red chakra when a massive shockwave passed though the barrier launching Hinata straight towards a massive tree. "Hinata!" he screamed seing her fly through the air helpless until she was snatched out of the air by Tsunade and landed in front of him.

"Naruto, what the hell! Are you trying to kill her?" shouted Tsunade quite unpleased about what she saw

"No, um… I was, she wanted to" he fumbled trying to make up a believable excuse.

"Don't blame him Hokage-sama, it was my fault I made him show me his strength, but he only allowed me to see about half." Calmly stated Hinata dusting off her clothes.

"Are you nuts!? That attack had more chakra in it than most Jonin, just how strong are you?" she wondered while eyeing the blonde.

"Well uh, since Kyuubi went silent, I've gotten to control 60 percent of his chakra, but I keep another 10 percent of that strictly for healing since the chakra still hurts me when I use that much." Naruto informed her with a shy smile.

"That's… surprising. Well since Hinata isn't really hurt, I'll let you off this time, but you will still need to come by the conference room by noon" Tsunade announced before she disappeared.

"That was weird. Why did she come by to tell me that in person?" Naruto walked up to Hinata and gave her a quick kiss. "You alright?"

"Yes, thank you for showing me." she said with a smile

"Ok, from now on just fight me at your maximum and I'll match it." Hinata looked at him strangely after his statement.

"But if you do that, then how will you get stronger?" she asked.

"I already have all the raw power I could ever need; I just have to use it better so I won't need to fight at maximum to do that. Let's start walking to the tower, if we walk slow enough, we should get there just in time." Getting a nod, he grabbed her hand and they walked to the Hokage tower while talking of minor things but mostly just enjoying the contact.

* * *

Like usual, Naruto burst into the conference room with a yell when he and HInata arrived.

"Hey Baa-chan, what do you…"

"Surprise! Happy Birthday Naruto!" screamed the entire room consisting of all his friends (Konohamaru and co. along with all the rookie 9 and team Gai, and of course Jiraiya, Iruka, Shizune, and Tsunade, and even Ayame was there)

"Hey uh, thanks guys. I guess I forgot it was my birthday today."

"WHAT!?" they screamed in unison.

"Um, well when you never really celebrate one and then you live a few years without one, you tend to forget. In the past it was always a bad day for me, but I guess it is about to change… Let's party!" The group joked, talked, and all around partied for a couple hours but the group was forced to disperse since there were missions that needed to be completed that couldn't be postponed for the day. They all said their goodbyes which now left the room with Tsunade, Jiraiya and Kakashi, along with Naruto and Hinata.

"Well, the three of us have some gifts for you." Tsunade pulled out a small scroll and handed it to Hinata.

"Um what is this for?" she asked.

"Just open it Hinata, Naruto requested one of them, but I decided to throw in the other." Hinata opened the scroll and immediately blushed.

"Um, well I understand the reason for the birth control one, but why the sound barrier?" This time Naruto blushed a bit and whispered into her ear.

"You are very loud when you are enjoying yourself." Hinata caught on quickly and nearly fainted before she was interrupted.

"Yo, here." Kakashi tossed a single key to Naruto. (And no, this isn't a key to a cliche clan house)

"What is this for Kakashi-sensei?"

"Don't know."

"Oh you're a real lot of help." Just then Jiraiya stepped up holding a larger scroll that the jutsu scroll and he seemed strangely serious.

"Here, this will tell you about the key, it's from your father." Jiraiya handed over the scroll and announced he was off to do 'research' so Tsunade decided to give him a free escort with a punch to the face.

"So are you going to read it, or just look at it?" asked the strangely relaxed Hokage.

"Um… yeah, ok" Naruto set the scroll down at the closest table while Hinata stayed away as to not pry into his business. He activated the blood seal and opened the scroll and looked at it in confusion and then looked behind him. "Um, Hinata-chan, I think this is also addressed to you."

"Huh?" Hinata and Tsunade both said, While Hinata went and sat next to him to read.

_To Naruto and his soon to be wife:_

_I wish I could have met the two of you in person, but I can't so I wish you the best on your marriage. You both will have a large role to play in the future. _

_Naruto, I hope you have mastered using all the chakra that was sealed inside of you because you'll need it, and I'm sorry for placing such a burden on you, but the real reason for it will be revealed later. Make sure that when the upcoming battle happens that you keep your Hyuuga princess close. Only the power of the two of you combined will bring you victory. Take the key I had Kakashi give you and bring it to the entrance to the hidden scroll room and use it to unlock the door. There will be another scroll to read in there._

Naruto rolled the scroll up and stood with Hinata following him. "Hey baa-chan, this scroll is really weird; he knew I was marrying a Hyuuga."

"Well, his wife, your mother, was from an ancient oracle type clan, so that may have something to do with it" she informed

"Ok, but it is still weird. He also said I needed to go to the secret scroll room and use the key Kakashi-sensei gave me." Shrugging at the strange request Tsunade led them into the scroll room leaving Kakashi to his mission, what ever it was. Placing the key in the lock and giving it a twist the door opened into a room different than the scroll room. Upon entering they were greeted with a room having each of the four walls covered with large pictures. Hinata was mesmerized by one of the larger pictures near the center of the room.

"Naruto-kun, who is she… she's gorgeous." She asked eyeing the picture of a dark haired woman with her hair flowing about.

"Did you look at her eyes?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata-chan, that gorgeous woman is the same person I see every morning, that is you." Hinata gasps and shakes her head.

"How? I don't look anything like that."

"Well then, who is she hugging over there in that picture?" Hinata looked over to the said picture, which was even larger than the previous one, and just stared at it. She saw a tall blonde with spiky hair with marks on his cheeks staring lovingly with his blue eyes at the dark haired woman from the previous picture while in a light embrace wearing something like an Anbu outfit that was flowing in the wind .

"Naruto-kun, how?" she asked in amazement.

"I don't know, maybe we should find that scroll. Hey Baa-chan…" he waves his hand in her face. "Baa-chan?"

"What!?" she hollered after snapping out of her daze.

"You were a bit spaced out there."

"Um, yeah, this is just weird, I'm going to my office, if you find something important let me know." Tsunade left the couple in the room as they continued to look at the pictures until they noticed one of a fierce battle. The blonde was shown with red slited eyes and claws tearing through weird looking shadowy creatures while being defended by the woman, with bulged veins by her eyes.

"Well it looks like you are still saving my life in the future Angel… Oh here it is." Naruto found the scroll and opened it to read.

_I guess this might be weird for the two of you, I know it was for me. I've had these pictures for about five years now, when I met your mother. They were a possesion of hers for a few years before that. I had no idea what to think of them. They seemed familiar but I couldn't place it until I unintentionally opened a dimensional window in the presence of your mother and saw the battle unfold before me. That was when I realized it was the future because there were techniques of mine that I created being used, but I hadn't even mastered them yet…_

_My time is short now, since your tenant is attacking, I only sealed him in you since I saw his power being needed in that battle. I left a scroll with instructions on the Hirashin Jutsu and also a wedding ring for your wife with the seal needed for the jutsu inscribed on it. _

_When you master the jutsu you only need to focus on the image of the ring and you will be instantly by her side. I also left some notes on theories about the dimensional window that I suggest you look at since those beings, I believe, are from the same dimension as the shadows for the kage bushin. Be careful you two, and Naruto, take good care of your beautiful wife, you couldn't have done any better._

"Well Hinata, I have no idea what these creatures are, but we have some training to do." Finding the jutsu scroll, the tri pronged kunai, and the ring, the two left the room for he time being.

"We'll need to get some of those pictures copied after we win that battle so we can have a few for our room, but for now they are safe here." Naruto locked the door and stepped back into Tsunade's office to inform her of the coming threat.

* * *

"Well I have some bad news baa-chan, it looks like there will be a large scale battle in the future, but you don't need to worry too much, by the look of the pictures, it is only Hinata and me that will have to fight, but you should still be on alert."

"Is there any time frame for this battle?" she asked

"There wasn't a specific date, but it was said that the ring Hinata was wearing was her wedding ring, so my best guess is that it will happen sometime after our wedding. There is still a lot of information I can learn from that room. Hopefully I can find something there to help."

"Ok, keep me posted on what you found out, now get out of here and enjoy the rest of the day." They were pushed out of the office as the door slammed behind them.

"Well, what do you want to do now?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, but I am feeling a bit hungry." She replied finally noticing that they were in the room for quite a while and it was already getting dark.

"Sounds good, I think we should drop these things off in our room and get a good shower before we go out, and I'm thinking something nice for a change. Ichiraku's is good, but just isn't a romantic setting like I want since we really haven't had a romantic date yet." Hinata smiled widely and gave him a quick kiss.

"I would love that, and I have the perfect thing to wear." Hinata happily drug her fiancé back to the manor to get ready. They dropped off the stuff in a safe kept in their room and Naruto took the first shower and got dressed in just nicer black pants and a collarless button up dark orange shirt with black sleeves.

Needing to kill some time while Hinata got ready, Naruto decided to take out the scrolls and practice a bit. Seeing how difficult the Hirashin was, he decided to try out the sound barrier jutsu. The jutsu was an easy one and he had it easily mastered and even modified it a bit so sound could come in the room, but not escape it, so it could actually be left on all the time.

Just as he finished messing with the jutsu, Hinata came out of her dressing room, that was connected to the bathroom, wearing a simple pale lavender dress accentuating every curve of her body. Naruto barely kept a hold on the scroll as he saw her wonderful healthy form. No matter what she wore, she just seemed to get more stunning every time she got dressed.

"You really look beautiful Hinata-chan; I'm starting to think there isn't an angel that looks more beautiful than you." His compliment got a nice blush from the girl. "Come on cutie, let's go." Naruto led her into town and past most of the drunken villagers who enjoyed the festival a little too much that night. They ended up at a deserted grassy area overlooking a small pond reflecting the moon light.

* * *

"This is really beautiful Naruto-kun, but…" just then a small table comes into view when the solitary candle upon it flickered to life. Naruto smiled and took her hand and led her to the table seating her first and then taking his seat. Once again Hinata was about to speak when Ayame stepped up and placed a couple glasses of water down.

"Ayame-chan… what are you doing here?" Hinata asked clearly caught by surprise.

"Well father and I knew Naruto wanted to take you somewhere nice and romantic, so as our birthday present to him, he could have the romantic dinner with you without sacrificing his favorite food." Ayame took their orders, they didn't need a menu since they knew what they wanted, and disappeared into the night.

"This is perfect Naruto-kun, but I thought this would be something to do for my birthday instead."

"Well, this is something I really wanted for you, so I guess it counts, and besides, you get to be married on your birthday." After he finished those word, he really wished he hadn't since Hinata was smiling sexily again. "Hey, what did I tell you about that smile of yours?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." She lied as she continued smiling at him while touching his leg with her bare foot. Before she got any further, the meal was brought out snapping her thoughts back to the food. After finishing their meal, they sat and looked at the stars until they realized it was getting late and they needed to get back since there was training to do in the morning.

When they got back to their room, they walked in with Hinata shutting and locking the door. Naruto removed his shirt, leaving him only in a t-shirt he was wearing underneath and sat down in a chair with a sigh. He relaxed a bit until he felt the need to open his eyes and there he saw Hinata removing her dress revealing a full set of dark blue lingerie matching the color of her hair. She turned to him and smiled seductively as she kicked the rest of the dress off and swayed her way to the chair and sat on his lap facing him. She saw his stunned and dazed look in his eyes and kissed him deeply.

"How do I look?" she asked him while he couldn't make any words. He was so amazed since he hasn't really seen her body but a few glimpses when she was overly thin, there were just no words to describe it, so he just kissed her back.

"Speechless, I like that." She kissed him once more letting her tongue wander in and around his while making some satisfying noises in the process. She kept her lips in full contact with his while she felt strong hands wander her body until they came to rest firmly holding her ass and pulling her deeper into the kiss. They finally broke apart and Naruto looked at her slightly reddened lips and really wanted more, but didn't want to get too carried away.

"Hinata, we…" he never got to finish before she silenced him with another quick kiss.

* * *

(A bit of the citrus action, no sex yet, but they can't get much closer than this. If you are one that likes avoiding sexual content, then this is the end of the chapter...Later)

* * *

"I promised you I wouldn't pressure you into sex, that gets to be saved for our wedding night, but everything else is fair game." She was about to kiss him again when she was surprised by him aggressively kissing her and sucking on her lips. He stood up holding her with a firm grasp on her soft but firm backside while still wildly kissing her getting much more sounds of enjoyment from her. He gently set her down on the bed and unclasped her bra without even breaking lip contact with her. He finally broke the kiss as he freed her from the constraining garment and looked at her naked chest.

"You look so perfect like this, I never knew someone could drive me crazy like you do." This time he leaned in and gently placed a set of very soft kisses on Hinata's nearly swollen lips causing her to whimper trying to hold back her voice.

"Hinata, you can express yourself any way you want. I already mastered that jutsu when you were taking a shower earlier." He started his gentle kissing again starting with her lips again and went to move on until she grabbed his head crushing his lips to hers as she let out a loud moan into his mouth causing him to get an exciting shiver shooting throughout his body.

"Thank you; I don't know how much longer I could hold that in." she moaned to him while he places kisses on her jaw line all the way down to her left ear where he gently licked her ear lobe causing a mixture of a giggle and a moan from her. After a soft nip to her ear he kissed his way down her neck using slightly harder kisses and reached her collar bone where he gently sucked on her delicate skin driving her wild.

He released the now bright red skin and gave it a gentle lick and returned to her luscious lips kissing her passionately. Hinata enjoyed every moment and was being driven crazy as Naruto kissed his way down the right side of her face doing much the same as was done to the left.

On his way back from her right side he kissed up the underside of her neck to her chin before assaulting those reddened lips of hers enticing another joyous moan as she sucked wildly on his intruding tongue. She wanted to keep him there but he forcefully broke apart causing some whimpers of disappointment from her.

She stopped whimpering when she felt his warm hands start massaging her breasts and nearly squealed when he moved down and licked one before sucking on the sensitive nipple while massaging the other. He released the hold he had with his mouth and gently blew on the wet skin causing goose bumps to spread away from that point. He started back massaging that breast as he paid attention to the other sucking on it and softly dragging his teeth across the skin causing her to yelp, but clearly not from pain.

Gently squeezing one nipple and sucking on the other, Hinata let out another sound of pleasure from his careful actions. He let go again and moved back up taking her lips again when she gave him a sudden push causing him to flip over on his back, before he could react Hinata was straddling his stomach and running her fingers through his hair. Her breasts were dangling down in his face and she gasped in surprise when he grabbed a nipple in his mouth and sucked on it. With a smile she pulled it back away from his mouth and saw disappointment on his face and giggled seeing it.

"They aren't going too far," she assured, "but I believe it's my turn." She got off his chest as she removed his shirt and placed a few kisses on his abs and moved down unbuttoning his pants. After gently unzipping them she slid them off of him revealing the large bulge in his cautiously approached and reached out with her hand shyly touching it and quickly jerked her hand back when it moved. Naruto laughed at her actions causing her to pout.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting it to move." She whined causing more laughter.

"I'm sorry; you just look so cute when you pout, even more so with your breasts bouncing as you move." Hinata's pout turned back into a smile as she wiggled back and forth causing her breasts to bounce around as she giggled slightly seeing the pleased look on his face. She focused her attention back to the bulge and decided to get a good look, so she grabbed the waist of his shorts and quickly pulled them off.

She gasped a bit when she looked upon what was hidden, not because of the size, but because of how attracted to it she was. Never seeing one before, or even pictures, since the Hyuuga weren't allowed in sex ed, so she had very little knowledge on the topic. She inched closer and reacted the same as the first time when it moved when she touched it again.

"Why does it do that?" she asked curiously as she slowly approached it again.

"Um… I guess it is very sensitive and well… I guess I get more um… excited when you touch it." was his answer.

"So… it feels good when I touch it?" She reached out again and slid her index finger down the underside getting a reaction again followed by a quiet groan.

"Um… that it does." He informed her with his eyes closed. She got a little closer and closed her hand around his shaft and felt the size and firmness and curiously inspected all of it. She looked up at Naruto's face and saw him smiling watching her curiosity.

"Is this supposed to fit in me? I think I know how things are supposed work, but I'm not sure anymore." She asked causing some more chuckling.

"So I guess you weren't allowed to take that class in academy either. From what I've learned training with Ero-sennin, it will fit but it could cause you pain in the process. I guess we'll find out in a few months now won't we?" he reached forward and stroked her cheek with her leaning into the touch with a smile. She came back to him and aggressively ground her lips into his biting on his bottom lip while he made her squeal by squeezing both her nipples. She broke the kiss and slapped his hands off of her.

"It's still my turn." She said answering his questioned look. Hinata traced the outlined of his muscles of his chest back down across his abs until she got to her most recent obsession. She touched it again and smiled when it moved before taking a firm grasp on it and just held it in her hand. With her other hand she gently fondled the looser skin below the current object of her attention.

She let go of his member and lightly ran her fingers across the head getting contented groans from her love. She lightly wrapped her fingers back around him and slowly moved her hand down the length and back up and clearly saw the pleasure she was giving. She suddenly stopped her movement and leaned down and lightly kissed the tip of it and felt Naruto's muscles tighten. She immediately let go of everything and jumped back scared that she somehow hurt him.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked with slight fear.

"Hell no, not in the least, I loved it." he forced out. After hearing that, her confidence returned and she took a hold of him again, but this time decided to lick the head of his member and got a more intense reaction from him. She got an idea and brought her lips back to him and slid just the head into her mouth and started sucking on it and at the same time flicked her tongue across the tip.

Naruto was now the one moaning as she continued sucking on him. She pushed him further inside her mouth and then pulled back, all the while sucking and licking. She did this a few more times before she was gently pulled away by firm hands while she made a slurping sound as his he was pulled from her mouth.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, like he just took away a kids new toy.

"Because it's my turn again." She let out a short delighted scream when he grabbed her shoulders and tossed her further onto the bed. He came up beside her and they broke into another lustful kiss. Her lips were a little sore, but she didn't care, the pleasure from kissing out weighed it by far. He broke off and moved down to one of the soft mounds and licked it before putting the nipple in his mouth while lightly sucking.

"You really like those don't you?" she asked in a slightly moaning voice and got no answer as it left his mouth with a pop. He didn't really need to answer her question as he moved to the other one giving it the same attention. He let go of this one and gave it a final lick before he kissed down her stomach to the top of her lace panties.

Bringing up a hand, he touched her through the lace as she grunted feeling the touch. He grabbed the offending piece of clothing and in one smooth motion they were lying on the floor beside the bed. When he turned back to her he gasped in surprise seeing the delicate folds of skin making up her womanly parts. Hinata heard the quiet gasp and sat up quickly.

"What is it?" she asked

"It's just that… you are even beautiful down here. I found what has to be the perfect woman." She smiled at him while he pushed her back down on the bed and went back to his previous position. He spread her legs apart and took in the whole view. He massaged her inner thighs and lightly brushed by her sexual epicenter enticing some whimpers that he wasn't giving her full contact yet and was just teasing her.

He positioned his face between her thighs and kissed the delicate skin of her legs near her womanhood. He continued closer and closer and right before getting there, he moved to the other side and started kissing his way back up. The teasing was driving Hinata so insane she just couldn't take it anymore and grabbed his head and mashed his lips into her crotch as she loudly moaned out at the contact.

"Well that wasn't very nice." He said acting angry after getting away from her grip.

"Sorry, I couldn't take the teasing anymore." She looked at him upset that she made him angry, but she only saw a smirk on his face. He repositioned himself between her legs and ran his tongue from the bottom of her opening up to the top where he licked her nub a few times causing intense screams before running his tongue back down.

Naruto decided to experiment and stuck his tongue into her as far as he could and wiggled it around tasting her juices and trying to ignore the noises she was making. He pulled his tongue out of her and kept lightly licking all the intricate folds of delicate skin leaving none untouched. Hinata was moaning and screaming as she wiggled and writhed on the bed until she felt his warm moist mouth stop and suck on just her nub while flicking his tongue over it.

She lost control at that moment and screamed out but he didn't stop. He licked her a few more times pushing her over the edge once more before he stuck his tongue back inside her wanting to taste her flavor once more. After a few more final licks he got up from his position and kissed Hinata on the lips.

"More…" she moaned out in a complete blissful daze. . He came back for another kiss as she turned her head and he kissed her cheek. "More…"

"More what Hinata?" her mind couldn't make the words so she just pushed him on his back and crawled on top of him sticking her wet pussy in his face while she stuck his entire rod in her mouth and began pumping it up and down. Naruto was shocked and didn't move seeing the sex crazed Hinata. She didn't feel the pleasure she wanted and pulled him out of her mouth and backed up closer to his face and wiggled her ass at him

"More…" she begged again but got nothing so she backed up further and started grinding her pussy into his face and immediately started moaning again from the contact. He finally snapped out of his daze and pushed her forward off his face to not suffocate, although he couldn't think of a better way to go, and got a disappointed whimper in return.

Naruto looked at her soaked pussy quivering there waiting for some needed attention and needed no further persuasion to qwell her needs. He ran his tongue across the slick skin while she moaned in approval and stuck his member back into her warm moist mouth and loudly moaned and sucked its length. They continued their actions with many sounds of enjoyment until she couldn't take the sensation of his mouth on her any longer and started shaking as she hit her third orgasm of the night. She screamed in pleasure with his shaft still in her mouth pushing him over the edge as well from the added vibrations.

Hinata's eyed widened suddenly when she felt streams of thick fluid shoot from him into her mouth and down her throat. She was caught by surprise and started to choke until she decided to start swallowing it as it just kept coming. Some of the milky fluid escaped out of the corner of her mouth down his shaft and after swallowing the last of it she licked up the remainders that got away. Naruto rolled her off him and looked into her half shut eyes.

"You have enough now?" he asked her with a smile. Getting a nod in return he put his boxers back on that were lying on the edge of the bed and moved the exhausted Hinata to her pillow before lying down next to her and pulled her naked back against his chest with his arm draped over her waist. With her last ounce of energy, Hinata took his hand and placed it on her breast.

"Happy birthday, Naruto-kun." He just kissed the back of her neck and gave her breast a light squeeze as a response as they both drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.

* * *

...Later


	14. Chapter 14

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 14

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

Oct 11 018 AK: Mid morning

* * *

Naruto woke with a smile still holding the soft mound of flesh. After seeing that is was nearly 11 am he decided it was time for them both to get up for the day. He leaned over to the peacefully sleeping creature next to him and softly nibbled on her ear. After a few licks she started to giggle showing that she was already awake but was just enjoying his touch.

"Good morning Angel, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling excellent." She replied while yawning cutely before she twisted around and was lying on top of him bringing him into a long kiss.

"You do realize you're still naked, right?" he asked while rubbing her bare back.

"So. You did have your face between my legs last night, so I have nothing left to hide." she commented with a smile

"Well you have a point, you were quite aggressive too."

"Uh yeah, sorry. I don't know what came over me." She apologized which got her tossed onto her back and kissed very deeply again.

"Don't apologize; you were the best birthday present ever. When ever we do stuff like this again, I don't want you to stop until you're completely satisfied, even if it takes all night." Hinata grabbed his head and tightly held his lips to hers in a long make out session, but it was prematurely broken apart.

"Hey let's not get started up again or you wont be satisfied for a few more hours, we need to do some training today and I think we'll be needing our strength for that." Reluctantly she let him go and walked into the bathroom for a shower. She returned 10 minutes later with _just _a towel around her hair and a smile. She made exaggerated movements making sure to show of everything, especially when she bent over to pick up her dress from the floor giving Naruto the perfect view of her bottom half. He quickly stood up and ran into the shower to avoid loosing his much needed energy he was sure to part with if he looked any longer. Hinata just lightly giggled knowing that all she needed to do in the future was to show some skin and she'd have him again. Content in that knowledge she put on her usual training clothes and waited for him to finish getting ready.

He came out in his usual black pants and thin black jacket left open revealing a grey shirt. The couple grabbed a simple breakfast from the Hyuuga kitchen and took off with a few scrolls in hand to commence training. Naruto immediately set in reading the scroll on the Hirashin while Hinata studied hers from Tsunade. Two hours later Hinata figured out the aspects of hers while Naruto was struggling figuring out the aspects of just the strange symbols needed for the jutsu.

"Um, Naruto-kun… I'm done with my jutsu." she shyly mumbled.

"Which one was that?" he asked not really looking up from his scroll.

"It… um… the…" Naruto looked up and saw her bright red face and started laughing.

"You know, for someone so aggressive when we're alone, you sure do change outside, but you're still cute. Um… maybe you should try to find Sakura and see if she can teach you a simple numbing jutsu to accompany that one." he suggested, still smiling at her.

"I love how you're so caring Naruto-kun." She stooped down in front of his face and gave him a kiss. "I'll be back soon, love ya, bye."

"Love you too angel, be careful." She smiled at him and took off to find her medic friend.

'Hmm, it takes three individual seals placed over each other… that is why no one can copy this technique. The seals overlap each other and needs to be drawn individually but you can't see the others to know how to place them.' He thought as he pushed forward in his studying.

* * *

Hinata found the pink haired medic doing some training exercises in the training grounds near the hospital. She ran up to her waving and calling out her name.

"Sakura-chan…"

"Hinata, what can I do for you?" She said as she turned and looked at her beaming smile. "What's with that smile of yours? Wait, did you have sex?" Hinata immediately started blushing and smiled a little larger as Sakura squealed and gave her a hug. "So how was it?" she pried.

"Um, well we are actually saving sex for our wedding night, so we didn't quite have sex." Hinata replied quietly still bright red.

"So, what is 'not quite having sex'?" she asked slightly confused.

"Um… there's um… well let's just say… he has an amazing… tongue." She almost whispered out looking down.

"WHAT!?" Sakura screamed catching the attention of a blonde passing by.

"Hey forehead what are you yelling for?" yelled Ino as she walked up to the two kunoichi.

"Hinata got Naruto to use his tongue!" Hinata nearly died of embarrassment from all the talk.

"So, I love kissing with tongues, what so surprising about that." Replied Ino.

"No, I mean down lower." Ino's mouth dropped with eyes wide.

"Tell me; tell me, how did you convince him to do that? I've been trying to get Sai to do that for months. So how was it?" she begged for answers.

"Yeah Hinata, do tell." The two gossiping kunoichis sat down and looked to the Hyuuga girl. Hinata still had a brilliant shade of red as she decided to not run and sat with them.

"Um… it's… amazing." The other two just squealed in response

"So did he get you to… you know?" asked Ino

"Yeah, I think it's a really good night if I get there before Sasuke-kun falls asleep." commented Sakura.

"So, sometimes you guys don't even get… satisfied?" Hinata asked actually getting involved in the conversation.

"Well yeah, why?" Sakura asked with Ino nodding.

"Don't they care about your… um… needs?" she asked still not believing what she heard.

"Well sure they do why?" Sakura stated quickly.

"Well um… you're satisfied at one?" the two looked at the hyuuga girl in surprise.

"Hinata… how many?" asked a very sober looking Sakura. Hinata looked at the girls in front of her with their serious looking faces and only could manage to hold up her fingers.

"Holy shit, three!" Sakura gasped while Ino looked at her like she was an idol. "How did you get him to do that?"

"He just does. He told me not to stop until I'm satisfied, even if it takes all night." The other kunoichis were just flabbergasted at her statement.

"Hey Ino… let's steal Naruto from her. With his stamina he could probably take both of us." Ino just nodded while her mouth was still open. Hinata just smiled at them sweetly.

"You do know if you go anywhere near my Naruto-kun as more than a friend you'll have more pain that you could imagine right?" Sakura and Ino just nodded dumbly and were actually scared at how sweetly she promised imminent death. "Good. Now then is there a jutsu that'll take the edge off the pain from the first time?"

"Um… yeah, I'll teach it to you under the same conditions I gave Ino when I taught it to her, but I think Ino will want in on this too. You'll need to share details of your experiences with us, and with your experience so far, we definitely don't want to miss out on them." Hinata blushed once more and shyly nodded her head and Sakura immediately started to teach her while prying for more details on their night.

* * *

Hinata got away after learning the jutsu and without revealing too much of her intimacies. It was easily about 2:30pm and Hinata was quite hungry and decided to meet up with her fiancé to see if he needed some food. She came into the clearing of their private training area and found he was missing but the scroll was sitting there with a single special kunai sticking from the ground. Hinata worriedly looked around for him until she heard a yell from above. The blonde appeared in a flash of light 20 feet off the ground and fell straight to the ground face first at Hinata's feet. Immediately Hinata started laughing wildly seeing the predicament he was left in.

"Ouch…" he groaned pulling himself up from the ground. "Hey why are you laughing Hinata-chan?"

"I see you haven't quite mastered that jutsu yet. Why don't we go find some lunch for now and we'll get back to training in a moment." She told him with lessening laughs

"Yeah, ok." Naruto picked up his equipment and returned to her side as they both headed to Ichiraku's for lunch. The day went by quickly after lunch since Naruto went back to training with the new jutsu while Hinata was polishing more of her techniques while also making time for studying some more advanced medical jutsus Sakura gave her that should help with the up coming battle.

* * *

It carried on in the same manner for the next two weeks and other than training nothing happened of any kind which irritated Hinata a bit and tried to get a little more attention and started sleeping in the nude hoping it would pick things up, but he still paid little attention for some reason. On the training front, Naruto managed to get the jutsu down pretty well, but it was still missing the part where he can sense the movement of the kunai as it is thrown, so he can't be summoned else where by just throwing the weapon like the Yondaime had created it to be done, and he still seemed to be landing really hard. Since he had it figured out for the most part he would only spend the first half of his day practicing it while he spent the other half leafing through the notes written on the theories of the dimensional windows.

After another week of studying the note, Naruto was able to confirm that kage bushins use a medium from a different dimension, and furthermore he learned that when he pushed more chakra like he did to create the stronger clones, it was actually pulling simple life forms from that dimension giving the extra durability which also accounted to the inconsistencies that arose like creating Rantou. But unfortunately when he created Rantou, he pushed too much chakra and ended up tearing the dimension open larger possibly releasing some of the creatures he saw in the picture that he was fighting, but ran out of information to look into it further.

* * *

Nov 8 018 AK: Morning about 10am

* * *

Hinata woke up agitated that she was ignored for another night and decided she needed to confront him on that issue. He wasn't even holding her very tight making her feel slightly lonely or more like unwanted.

"Naruto-kun, are you awake?" she asked shyly not really wanting to ask her next question out of fear for the answer.

"Yeah, I'm awake." He replied with a yawn while she rolled over to face him.

"Do you still find me attractive?" she asked looking into his eyes.

"Yes, more than anything, why?"

"It has been about three weeks since you've touched me other than hugs and kisses, and even they weren't that involved." Hinata informed him.

"It's been three weeks already? I guess I've been focusing on training and haven't noticed." was his reply irritiaing the young Hyuuga.

"I've noticed." She told him with a frown.

"Well I do need to train a lot to protect you and everyone, but if you can keep it short… you want to do some stuff, like now?" Hinata looked at him smiling widely and brought him into a long drawn out kiss before letting him go. (short sexual content in next few lines, but humerous as well)

"I probably won't be completely satisfied, but I'll make it short for now." Before he could react the sheets were off the bed and Hinata was straddling his face giving him a mouth full of her, pleasantly surprising him. As she was about to remove his boxers he slid his tongue across her flesh causing her to shudder under the warmth and relax on top of him.

"Sorry." He apologized then she looked back at him questioningly.

"For what." She asked slightly agitated at talking instead of what she wanted.

"Um… I didn't realize you were this horny. Please come to me before you need it this bad."

"Ok, now less talking more licking." She commanded as she flung off his only article of clothing. She gave it a full lick before softly guiding his prick into her mouth enveloping it in her warmth while she moaned loudly as his tongue was buried inside her. Oh how she was enjoying that moment as she moved his length in and out while floods of pleasure crossed her loins from his wonderful actions, well that is until the door opened.

"Naruto-san there's a package…" Neji nearly died as his eyes almost fell out of his face. The loud moaning he heard, after opening the door, stopped when the package hit the floor as Hinata's eyes met his. They were frozen still; Hinata with eyes wide, still having Naruto's appendage in her mouth, and Neji who couldn't believe what he was seeing. Naruto's voice snapped them both out of their states of shock.

(Ok now I almost ran into this same situation years ago (almost 10 years ago) when my brother was busy with his fiance. One thing I would like to mention; when you are visiting a house where there are multiple people living there USE THE DAMN LOCK ON THE DOOR! ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS FREAKING LUNCH TIME! I could have been scarred for life if my eyelids weren't faster than my focus, and yes I mean scarred... ahhhhhh! It was stupid of me not to knock, but still, you should be dressed by noon.)

"Out Neji, or I'm charging admission." sounded Naruto's voice, although Neji couldn't see his face from his position.

"Shit, sorry" Neji bolted out the door closing it behind him as Hinata finally got her voice back, but her entire body was pink from embarrassment.

"We should talk with him about it." She said clearly embarrassed and wanted to explain.

"Yeah, maybe later." Naruto responded looking back down at what was before him.

"Huh, what do you…? AHHHH… yes later." She screamed as he continued right where he left off. Following his lead, she took him back inside and continued their 'oral quiz.' 45 minutes later they left their room fully clothed for the day to find Neji still in shock leaning against the wall.

* * *

"Hey Neji, knock next time, and go find Tenten, I think you have enough ideas." Naruto and Hinata laughed as he numbly nodded and flew out the door of the manor in a hurry. After a light breakfast they were walking to their usual spot and Naruto opened the package he received. It just contained a scroll, so Naruto flung it open revealing nothing.

"Hey the scroll is empty Hinata-chan." He called out causing her to giggle.

"I don't know how you can make a message like that, and still not recognize it." she asked cheerily.

"Huh?" he dumbly answered

"It's like the message you left me in your journal."

"Oh, right." Naruto channeled some chakra into the scroll as words appeared.

_Naruto, _

_Something changed and the battle went wrong. We came out victorious in the end, but I lost her. Some of the creatures can't be destroyed in this realm and must be sent back to theirs. When we thought we had them all, one came back and took her from me. Don't let it happen to you. I've included instructions for the Dimension Door; it is a jutsu that will allow one way travel to the shadow dimension so you can try it out anytime. Oh before I forget, the battle happens about mid January, so enjoy yourselves after marriage as much as you can. Keep your, um our, Angel safe._

_Naruto- _

"Um… shit. Well I never thought I'd get a letter from myself in the future. Sorry Hinata, but I might ignore you a little bit in the future so I know you'll still be here." he commented sadly.

"I understand, but just hold me tight at night ok?" Naruto nodded with a smile and went back to reading the instructions for the jutsu. "Ok, I'm going to find Sakura to trade out my scroll for another one. She went to leave but Naruto stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"I think you're forgetting something." Hinata looked at him strangely until he stood next to her and gave her a kiss. "Ok, now you can go angel." She smiled brightly at him and gave him another quick kiss before running off leaving him to practice in peace. Hinata found Sakura in their usual talking place with Ino.

"Um, here's your scroll back Sakura."

"Oh, thanks Hinata, sit down, we were just talking." Hinata sat with her friends and they immediately started grilling her. "So, I see you're smiling, but not as widely as before, did he not satisfy you completely like you thought he was going to." Hinata shook her head. "Ha, thought so, no one could be that lucky."

"No, there were other… circumstances." Hinata defended.

"Oh? So what were these circumstances?" Ino asked causing Hinata to blush madly at the memory. Just then Tenten ran up with a large smile on her face.

"Guys, you wouldn't believe this. Neji just came into my apartment and we had the best sex in the world, he even used his tongue on me. I don't know what came over him, it was perfect." Hinata was blushing even harder now and the other three kunoichis noticed.

"Hinata, you know what got into him don't you?" Ino asked looking at her red face. When she started looking at the ground they knew she did.

"Alright Hinata, spill it. I want more of that so tell me what happened or else." Tenten threatened.

"Um, Neji brought Naruto a package this morning." Hinata started.

"So… that explains nothing." Hinata blushed more in embarrassment as she continued.

"Well… I was on him… he was to me and I was, um… to him."

"What was that Hinata?" Sakura asked until it all hit her. "What!? Neji walked in on you 69'ing?" They all stared at her darkening face and knew the answer.

"Well that answers a lot, no wonder you didn't get completely satisfied." Commented Ino

"What are you guys talking about?" Tenten questioned.

"Oh, we didn't tell you?" shouted Sakura with a smile. "Hinata got it three times all in the same night last time and they don't even have full on sex yet." Tenten dropped the kunai she was twirling when the shock hit her.

"Damn… So do you like doing that to him?" Tenten asked being intrigued. Hinata only nodded in affirmation.

"So when he… you know… what do you do?" asked Ino wanting to know desperately. Hinata didn't answer so Sakura simplified it.

"So when he does... his part, you move right?" Hinata just embarrassingly shakes her head in the negative.

"You don't? Eww, Hinata." Ino cried out.

"Well it tastes better than your protein shakes." Hinata blurted out.

"Hinata, you're bad." Sakura commented

"You don't know the half of it." Hinata said under her breath as she immediately covered her mouth, but it was too late, they heard it.

"Alright Hinata, what else did you do?" Tenten asked while Hinata still held her hands over her mouth shaking her head. Suddenly a whirl of leaves appeared and there sat Kurenai in the group.

"Kurenai-sensei, what are you doing here?" Hinata asked shocked to see her teacher sitting around like one of the girls.

"Well, I took it upon myself to listen in on your talks every time just to keep and eye on you all, and I just saw you clammed up about the topic so I came down to help you." Hinata smiled at her teacher while the others frowned.

"Thank you sensei."

"Hey that's what I'm here for, now for me to help, you need to spill it." Her eyes widened seeing her teacher with the same smile as the others. "Come on, I know you can never keep information away from me." Hinata looked at the ground again in defeat.

"Fine, I shoved it in his face, twice so far, and I'll do it again if I have to." She reluctantly told them but they looked at her confused.

"What is bad about shoving some thing in his face?" Kurenai asked thoroughly confused.

"It was my…" Hinata started but the last part was inaudible.

"Your what?" Pried Sakura

"My pussy alright; I've smothered his face twice with my pussy and I like it when he sucks on my nipples and I like sucking his cock and I can't wait until we get married so I can screw the hell out of him for the entire night screaming loudly! Anything else you want to know?" Just then a white haired old man fell from the tree, paralyzed with informational overload snapping the group out of their shock of Hinata yelling and about the content of her rant. "Um, is there any way to make him forget every thing?" Hinata asked in a much quieter voice.

"Sure is, but you'll have to tell us every detail after your married, you sex crazed lunatic. I don't know if Naruto is the luckiest man on earth or not, but I sure neither of you will be moving after you're married." Commented Ino before she slumped to he ground and went into Jiraiya's mind to remove memories. After she came back she had a disgusted look on her face. "Well, I know he is going to think he lost his memories after the beating he is going to get."

"What do you mean?" asked Hinata.

"Well, Sakura is going to beat him within an inch of his life." Ino informed them

"Why would I do that?" Wondered the pink haired kunoichi.

"Well from what I saw in his mind, pink is your natural hair color, and I didn't think you could bend that way, lucky Sasuke." Ino answered with a believing smile.

"He saw that!? I'll kill him!" Sakura jumped at Jiraiya and kicked and punched him all the way to the hospital while Ino was laughing the entire time.

"You guessed about that didn't you Ino?" Hinata asked.

"Yep, but he did deserve it." Sakura finally came running back after kicking Jiraiya's ass, panting slightly. (Ok, if you didn't manage a laugh or even a smile yet in this chapter, then you're hopeless)

"So Hinata," Sakura started, "since it worked for Neji and Tenten, do you think I could get Sasuke to accidentally walk in on you guys?" Her joke really got Hinata aggravated.

"NO! I'll talk about what happens, but I can't handle having someone see me again in that state. I like doing those things with him but they are between us!" she yelled being quite embarassed.

"Easy Hinata, I was only joking." She assured. "Here is your next scroll to study, go take a cold shower or get Naruto to take care of your needs you're getting too worked up here aren't you?"

"Um… yeah I need more, but I won't get it for another 49 days." she commented after settling down

"Are you kidding? By the way you talk you'd give it to him any time, why would he refuse?" Tenten wondered out loud.

"Well, he needs to train for a very important mission that happens in January and I take a lot out of him so we can't for a while." she shyly mentioned.

"Well then just take care of it yourself." Ino suggested.

"It doesn't work, I've tried and it just makes me want him more." was her reply

"Damn Hinata, take that cold shower then and maybe see if he can take a day off just for you." was Tenten's suggestion.

"No, that's selfish. A lot is riding on his mission and if he isn't at his best people could die. I'd go a year without if it could save one life. I won't ask him because he won't say no."

"Fine Hinata, get out of here just make sure you don't let him move without you on him after you get married, got it" Hinata smiled at Kurenai for her suggestion and nodded her head in agreement and walked off with her scroll to find that cold shower.

* * *

Hinata lost track of time trying to freeze herself and meditate and realized it was quite late and neither she nor Naruto has had anything since breakfast. She quickly made up a simple supper and decided to bring it to him. She came upon their training area and saw a black pool of swirling darkness in the middle of the area.

"Don't go any closer Hinata-chan; you'll end up in another dimension." Naruto warned

"I thought it was supposed to be a door."

"Well it does act as a door, but I haven't mastered it yet. It is still unstable and I can't shut it." he smiled embarrasingly while scratching his head

"Oh, I have some food for us." Hinata pulled out a small box and started lying out the food for them. She picked up a few items and handed them to him which he took immediately and started eating.

"This is excellent Hinata-chan. I'm going to love being married to you." Hinata blushed like usual.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." They continued eating and watched the swirling darkness before them. Once they finished Hinata curled up in his arms as they continued to watch the dimension door swirl in the forest.

"So how are you angel?" He asked kissing her neck.

"Fine." She replied quickly.

"Come on Hinata, I know you better than that tell me what's wrong." He tilted her head back and gave her an upside-down kiss when she pushed her tongue into his mouth and started moaning at the contact. "Hinata, you feel very warm, are you ok?"

"I don't know, I am feeling tired." she answered

Suddenly the Dimension Door fell in upon itself and closed fully taking the eerie feeling with it. "I'm exhausted too, let's go home angel." Before Hinata could stand, Naruto picked her up in his arms and held her as her arms wrapped around his neck supporting some of her weight.

"What are you doing? I can walk." she managed to say with her eyes threatening to close.

"Don't care, I feel closer to you like this." It really only took about 20 feet and Hinata was already asleep in his arms, but she was still very warm. Naruto slowly walked into the Hyuuga manor and to their room laying her down on the bed causing her to stir but she immediately fell asleep again after repositioning herself. Knowing how uncomfortable it is o sleep in training clothes, He unzipped her jacket and slowly moved her out of it and pulled her shirt off followed by easing her pants off as well, this time she gained a bit of consciousness.

"What are you doing?" She sleepily asked without opening her eyes.

"You fell asleep and I'm putting you to bed." She felt him pull the last of her pants off her legs and snuggled into the sheets.

"Take them all off ok" she said before drifting back to sleep. With a smile and a shake of his head, Naruto removed her bra and panties and just stared at her perfect body before covering her with the sheet and joining her on the other side. He embraced her tightly and joined her in sleep noticing she was still a little warmer than usual.

* * *

n...Later


	15. Chapter 15

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

Nov 9 - 018 AK: mid Morning

* * *

It was morning again but this time it was different. When Naruto started to wake he was hearing faint whimpering coming from beside him. He tiredly opened his eyes and saw Hinata lying on top of the sheets sweating profusely.

"Hinata, what's wrong." He asked placing his hand on her forehead feeling her temp was much higher than last night.

"I don't know; I might have gotten sick." (Once again... ever notice how most stories avoid the common problems of getting sick?)

"How did that happen?" He asked with concern

"I think it was from standing in a cold shower for too long." she shyly replied.

"Now why did you do that?"

"I was trying to cool off my um… wants. Sorry." She told him while he just looked in her eyes

"No, I should be the one that is sorry. I'd love to spend every waking hour taking care of our desires, but you know we have more important things to take care of. I'd rather have you for the rest of my life than to enjoy you for a few months and loose you. You understand right?"

"I understand, but it still doesn't help this feeling. Do you feel like this?" she wondered with her loving eyes staring into his soul.

"Short answer… yes. I want you so bad, but if we go there we will exhausted afterwards since I know we can't stop so soon like yesterday morning so we need to wait. Most people would say that the little time we waste wouldn't affect our training, but I want every edge I can get in the battle to come. Besides the more time we save here, the more time we can spend together after we get married." he assured with a comforting smile.

Hinata smiled at him and held him tight but let go since she was still very hot but held his hand until she fell asleep. She was nearly dead from the exhaustion and didn't stir once when he pried him self away from her grasp and placed her on her pillow and left to take a shower. When he returned from the shower she was peacefully sleeping sprawled out on her back still completely naked trying to cool off. He just smiled, kissed her forehead and left to train knowing no one was allowed to enter their room if the door was shut since the Neji incident the day before so she shouldn't be bothered.

* * *

Now, about 5pm, Ino, Tenten and Sakura were walking down the hall of the Hyuuga manor looking for Hinata since she didn't show up for their daily talks. They were also slightly curious on what their room looked like after the remodeling. After knocking at the door they entered the room while the entire group stared at her naked form lying on the bed.

"Holy shit Sakura, is that really what she has under that coat?" gasped Tenten seeing her there.

"Well this can't be a disguise. I made her wear tight clothing once and she looked good, but I didn't think she was this well stacked." They all walked in and took a seat on the chairs in the room when Hinata started to wake up the three jumped from their seats and were at her side when she opened her eyes.

"Hinata, you're awake." Called out Ino

"Yeah, I'm too tired to move right now." she sleepily replied not realizing her state of dress.

"So, I didn't know you shaved." Tenten said nonchalantly.

"Tenten, she doesn't realize she's still naked." Observed Sakura. Hinata squeaked and tried to cover herself but gave up easily from exhaustion and remained sprawled on the bed.

"For your information I don't, it's a trait of all Hyuuga females. Now could some one cover me if you're going to stay here?"

"Um… no." Sakura told her. "If I looked half as good as you do like that, I'd never wear clothes besides you have nothing to hide anymore."

"So why are you so tired?" Ino asked and misinterpreted her color for a blush.

"Looks like you got satisfied, I thought you said he would be training and couldn't take care of it." Sakura stated

"No, I'm sick so this isn't a blush."

"Really? But you look good" said Sakura looking her over

"Yeah, with a body like that, you can't be human. It's too perfect." Added Tenten.

"w-what do you mean?"

"You really don't know do you? Hinata, you've hidden yourself from the world to the point that you don't even know how beautiful you really are." Informed Sakura

"Am I really?" she asked before being intruded on.

"Yes, now what are you guys doing here and why haven't you covered her if you're here." Naruto asked as he stepped through the door carrying a tray of food.

"Um… well." Muttered the medic

"They didn't cover me on purpose." Hinata pouted. "I think they might be gay."

"What!? Huh, you what!?" the girls just stared at the still naked Hyuuga weakly giggling.

"Actually Tenten is the one that wanted to touch her skin, we just… wanted to look." Defended Ino.

"So why didn't you? Obviously she can hardly move." Naruto joked with a smile.

"What are you saying Naruto-kun?" HInata asked with a cute pout.

"Well if they want to touch you so bad, let them, as long as they don't turn you on, it should be fine." He said with a smile

"Well, I guess so." she said genuinely.

"What!? Where did the shy girl go? Iknow she's been sharing information with us, but damn." commented Sakura with an astonished face.

"She has been slowly disappearing since I got back. And your talks have been boosting her confidence; keeping her desires hidden from everyone was taking a toll on her. Between Neji walking in on us and you guys prying information out of her, her desires are on the surface like the rest of the female population. Hinata was always helping others to the point where she was being taken advantage of. She ended up a follower with the mind of a true leader. Now she can voice what she wants more openly without being completely embarrassed. Now if you're going to touch her do it and leave, I need to feed her since she hasn't had any food today and clearly is sick."

"No, we want to watch." Sakura announced while the other two reluctantly nodded.

"Why?" he asked.

"We all have relationships, but you two seem to have a much better bond and we want to see what it is like by observing." was her reply. Naruto looked at each one with judging eyes before giving his answer.

"Ok, fine." Naruto held Hinata's overheating body upright and started to feed her some soup but she looked at him questioningly.

"Aren't you going to cover me up?"

"Nope, I like you like this and they don't care besides you really need to cool off." Hinata just giggled and happily accepted the food. She kept her eyes locked on his face while he smiled and fed her. When she was done eating he gave her a warm kiss and held her in his arms.

"Damn, that's what love is? We've got a long way to go. Ours would just get to the point of bringing the food and tell us were on our own and leave, that is if they even bring food." Ino just nodded in agreement

"Um, Hinata, I was wondering, are there other things are special to a Hyuuga female?" Tenten asked for future reference.

"Well, it is quite rare to have a girl and you already know about not needing to shave. We also have very sensitive skin that makes some… things... more enjoyable." She told them rather confidently for her.

"Ok, that is unexpected, um I guess we'll leave; thanks for indulging us then. Get well soon Hinata" Sakura declared. Before they left, each one slid their hand across her stomach and headed for the door.

"See I told you her skin was really soft." Tenten announced before shutting the door behind them.

(What was up with this scene you might ask... well I really don't know, it just appeared when I was writing and seemed to fit in, so I left it... It is a bit funny too)

* * *

After that awkward month, Hinata found she was much closer to how she wanted to be. She was able to keep her kind attitude that was always part of her, but her big change was that she never wore her bulky jacket since almost everyone, she met daily with, had seen her naked in an embarrassing way making her quite confident in how she looks. The only thing that didn't disappear was the blush that forms when she thinks of her fiancé, but that will probably never change. Naruto found out why his Hirashin wasn't working correctly, he never reapplied the blood seal on the objects and was trying to use it just with the blood connection from being family, let's just say he smacked himself for his oversight. Currently he is now working on a modification to the Hirashin. (In this story the Hirashin transfers the user to the opposite dimension that the clones use (a light dimension, not shadow - explains the flash of light) and then immediately gets summoned, like a normal summon, back to the weapon) If finished, he only needs to tag the shadow creatures and do a simple hand sign to move them to their realm, but that might not work correctly, only time will tell.

* * *

Dec 12 – 018 AK: midmorning

* * *

Now with only 15 days until their marriage, Hinata was busy getting things arranged to the point that she would get up before Naruto woke and would return to sleep after he came back from training barely getting any time together but that was a necessary evil for such a public marriage. Again Hinata was gone this morning when Naruto woke and he was definitely starting to feel the rejection like she was feeling the month before without her there. Slightly depressed Naruto got up and, after getting dressed, took off for his meeting with Tsunade.

"Hey baa-chan, what did you need me for?" he yelled, out of habit after crashing through the door.

"Damn it Naruto! I know you can act better than this." She screamed, after he surprised her

"Yeah, well, this just seems like the way to act around you, keeps you on your toes right?" he said shile smiling sheepishly

"Well it was boring without you, but also very peaceful, I'm torn on if I really want you back or not." she joked with a straight face.

"Yeah, whatever, you know you like me, now really, what did you need me for?" he asked getting serious at the end.

"Yes, well it seems there have been some mysterious attacks in the surrounding villages. It is unconfirmed as of yet, but the attacks were targeting certain items kept under guard by those entrusted to do so. From what Jiraiya could find out is that those items are part of a much larger device. We are assuming that this is tied to your upcoming battle and could quite possibly be the key to how those things got here, er, get here."

"So that time thing messing you up as well? I've been hurting my brain over thinking about the package I got" he stated calmly.

"What package was that? Are you holding out information on me?" Naruto nervously scratched his head.

"Uh, I guess I forgot. I have been training a lot so I guess I didn't have time to bring it up. It was just a scroll with a jutsu and a warning."

"Really? Who was it from?" Naruto smiled uneasily.

"Uh, me."

"Huh, let me get this straight, you received a package from yourself?" the Hokage clearified.

"Yeah, you see it told me that something went wrong in the battle and after we thought everyone was defeated, one of them killed Hinata and was the reason he, or I, sent a special jutsu to move the creatures back to their own dimension. Now you want to know what really gives me a headache though?" he saw the Hokage give him a curious look. "Now if I sent that from the future, then at some point in this time, will I have to send the same package? If I don't send it, then I would never receive the package in the first place making it impossible for me to have known that information in the first place, but yet I would still remember getting the package." Tsunade just looked at him strangely.

"I knew you changed, but I never knew you could think that deeply. You shouldn't worry about it though; most believe time works differently in that it can branch off making each event in time independent of each other. Basically, the future hasn't happened yet and the past can't be changed, so just take the information you have at face value and hope it all works out. And for crying out loud stop thinking, you're going to hurt yourself." she told him with a smirk.

"Oh, real funny. How about you stop drinking." he retorted, while she just decided to change the subject.

"Well since the business is over with, how are you and Hinata coming along?"

"Well I haven't seen her much since she started preparing for the wedding and I guess I really miss seeing her when I wake up. I haven't really had this feeling at the magnitude it is at. Sure I missed Konoha and everyone when I was away training, but this is much worse and I even see her every night." he told her with a somber face.

"Well I guess you really are still a bit dense; you really love her more than anything, that feeling is natural. How about you two make time for lunch together, I'm sure she is feeling the same way but doesn't want to interrupt your training… speaking of which, how has that been going?" She asked since he never really mentioned it in detail.

"Well, I think I have the Hirashin down, and I've managed to make the Dimension Door, the one I sent to myself, function properly, just not as well as I had hoped. Currently I am focusing on making another jutsu that will kind of un-summon something. It should send anything back to its original dimension even summons like Gamabunta. There shouldn't be any worry about someone copying the jutsu since I think that only I can perform them, kind of like a blood line, since you said my mother was from a clan tuned to time and space and as such I am able to manipulate it. That and it takes much more chakra than most can spare." Tsunade was actually shocked at how much he has learned over the past few months, but necessity does drive people to greater heights.

"Well that is good. Keep up your training, and don't forget to train in something other than ninjutsu, you don't need your taijutsu getting rusty since that is what really keeps you alive in a fight." she warned.

"Yeah I know, that pervert at least drilled that into my head when he wasn't out looking for a good time with the skanks." Tsunade had to stifle a laugh after hearing his evaluation of Jiraiya's choice of company.

"Alright brat, get going; I have a large amount of paperwork to take care of."

"Whatever baa-chan, see ya." Tsunade just waved him off and smiled brightly after he shut the door. "Damn, that kid has enough energy that he would finish this paperwork in half the time I do… he may turn out to be perfect for this job."

* * *

Naruto walked back to his training area and carefully created five clones. He sent two off to train with the dimension door technique and the other three were ordered to spar with each other trying to use the Hirashin in combat situations. Seeing his clones hard at work Naruto set in on messing with creating his new jutsu trying to make up for lost time. After about 5 hours of constant training the blonde dispelled the clones and immediately felt the drain on his mind as the knowledge hit him. Slowly he drug himself back to the Hyuuga manor and into the shower. Afterwards he drug himself to the bed and passed out of exhaustion after making contact with the soft sheets.

It was about 11:00pm as Hinata came through the door of the room and smiled seeing her blonde fiancé asleep, face first, on top the sheets. She took off her clothing and crawled under the sheets to join him in sleep.

"Hey Hinata?" He sleepily called out rolling over to look at her.

"Hmm, you're awake?" she replied

"Um yeah, I've um… missed you. We haven't seen each other much recently." he commented

"I know, but we both have stuff we need to get done." She explained after meeting his gaze.

"Yeah, but if we keep going like we are it may take a while to get our relationship moving again. We need to spend time together or we could risk loosing what we have. I will make time in my day to spend an hour or two with you over lunch if you will do the same." she offered.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata pushed herself closer and pressed her lips to his showing her answer. "I would give you all the time in the world if you asked."

"Thank you angel, sleep well." His eyes closed as Hinata looked at him disappointingly before rolling back over putting her back to him.

"Ahhh." She squeaked out when suddenly a strong arm wrapped around her waist and drug her across the gap between them and held her tightly. "Now I'll sleep well, goodnight Naruto-kun." She didn't get an answer back and knew she wouldn't after hearing the slow steady breaths signifying his state of consciousness. Following his lead she fell asleep easily in his arms.

* * *

Dec 20 – 018 AK: Mid-Afternoon

* * *

Only a week away from the wedding and Hinata was very jittery, she could hardly sleep and tossed and turned nightly but still managed to be gone in the morning before Naruto woke. By now she was clearly exhausted from not enough sleep, but she still had some more things to take care of before the big day.

Naruto made large leaps in his jutsus from the use of the bushins and even was on the verge of crack his new jutsu, but it was taking clearly more chakra to produce the effect than though, and he didn't even know if it would even work so it needed to be tested, but to test it would require a summon, but it needed to be a very strong summon just incase something didn't go right and he didn't have the chakra to summon the boss again if the jutsu backfired. Since he has never summoned anyone other that the small brothers and Gamabunta he had no idea what to summon, so why not ask?

In a cloud of smoke there stood Naruto's favorite orange colored toad Gamakichi.

"Yo, Naruto… It's been a long time hasn't it?"

"Yeah, no kidding. I screwed up big time and I got some stuff to take care of, oh and I'm getting married in a week." he mentioned with a smile

"I see, let your summons know last huh?" the toad said with a defiant look

"Hey it's not like that Gamakichi; I've needed to do some heavy training since I found out. It's a long story I'll tell you later, you guys can come to the wedding if you want to, it'll be held outside so there's plenty of room." Naruto offered.

"Hey that sounds good, it there's some sweets I'm sure you'll need to summon a few of us. I'll tell them all about it, now why did you summon me, I'm sure it wasn't just to tell me that." Naruto nervously scratches his neck.

"Yeah, you got me. I hate to ask, but I created an anti-summoning jutsu that I'd like to test, but I don't know if it will send them back to the correct dimension. If they end up somewhere else they could run into some bad creatures so they would need to handle it until I re-summon them. I was wondering if you knew of someone strong yet crazy enough to let me try it out." he asked in a shy tone.

"That would definitely be a powerful jutsu to have, is it tied to your blood?" inquired the toad

"Yeah, why?" the blonde asked with interest.

"Perfect! We wouldn't help if it could fall into the hands of anyone other that your family. Now I think I have someone in mind that can help but he hasn't been summoned in a while since he is a bit 'out there' for real combat, but he likes extreme situations." Gamakichi informed.

"That sounds like the perfect guy er toad, but how would I summon him?" Naruto asked.

"That's easy for me. Just give me some of your chakra for me to summon myself back and I'll take care of the rest."

"Uh, ok." Naruto placed his hand on the head of the small orange toad and gave him some of his chakra before he disappeared.

"I wonder how long it will take." he asked himself before deciding to train. Naruto summoned a few clones and began sparing with them to make the best of the time. About 30 minutes later Gamakichi returned in a puff of smoke.

"Yo Naruto, he has agreed to help you only need to use half of what you need for pops. You don't need to be exact since I placed a seal on him that will bring him before anyone else for a few days." mentioned the toad.

"Hey sounds great, you want to stay for a while to watch?" he asked.

"Sure, I also have a message for Ero-sennin so I'll stick around for a while." replied the amphibian.

"Alright, let's go!" Naruto yelled as he gathered the needed chakra, bit his thumb and activated the jutsu. A large cloud of smoke appeared before them about 10 feet tall and revealed a dark grey toad in chain mail and a crash helmet.

"Whoo yeah, let's party to the extreme!" Called out the large toad.

"I see what you mean Gamakichi…" Naruto said while looking at the large toad whooping and hollering.

"Whoa Gamakichi, that's Naruto huh? Well, you can call me Gamariki." he told his summoner.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Naruto and I'm going to try out a jutsu on you for returning summons. There is a possibility that you'll end up in the wrong dimension."

"That's extreme… Let's do it!" Naruto had to hold back a laugh at this toad's enthusiasm for possible danger. Naruto charged up his jutsu forming a black mist ball in his hand. "Alright Gamariki here it comes." He warned as he threw the ball at the large toad. The ball contacted him and spread engulfing him completely until both disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"That was slightly different from what I expected." Naruto panted trying to quickly recover his chakra to re-summon the toad. "I guess we should get him back here." Naruto went through the motions and slammed his palm to the ground. Right in front of him arrived the grey toad again but had gashes through a few places in his chain mail.

"Whoa, that place was extreme! There were like these things about my size along with a bunch of other things converging at a single area and I just happened to land in the middle of them. Dude that was awesome, but I don't want to go there again." he relented.

"Well crap; that was supposed to send you back to your dimension, but I guess it works for what it needs to. Thanks a lot Gamariki, you can go." called out the blonde as he got the information he needed.

"Hey thanks dude, feel free to call me again if you have some thing extreme again." With that the toad disappeared.

"That guy has been beat on the head a few too many times." Naruto announced to his smaller toad friend.

"Yep, that's pops' younger brother, he was dropped on his head once I think."

"Looks like it. Well I guess I got what I needed to know. For now."

"Alright, I'll go find the pervert and give him my message." Naruto watched the little toad hop away and set back to the training with what chakra he had left.

* * *

...Later


	16. Chapter 16

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 16

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

Dec 26 - 018 AK: early morning

* * *

Hinata woke early like usual and tried to get out of bed but couldn't move due to the arms holding her. She smiled and attempted to pry them off like usual but for some strange reason she couldn't budge his grip.

"You're leaving a little early angel, I usually get another hour." Hinata twisted in his grasp so she was facing him with noses touching.

"How do you know when I leave?" she asked

"I always wake up when you do." he replied before kissing the tip of her nose.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to."

"I don't mind, I like watching you walk to the bathroom; you give me a nice view."

"Thank you," she giggled "I really need to get going there is a lot of stuff to do." She tried to pry herself away again to no avail.

"You need some help? The wedding is tomorrow so I'm not training today, I don't want to be injured for the wedding." he revealed.

"Sure." She replied as she held his face and kissed him deeply holding him there for quite some time. "I would enjoy your company today." she stated after breaking the kiss

They each did the usual stuff they do in the morning and left to get some stuff together including setting up everything for the wedding service. The manor was bustling with activity with people running in all directions. The couple was stopped many times by questions that needed to be asked until they finally reached the large open space behind the manor where the wedding was going to be held but they were interrupted by more questions.

"Hinata-sama, how would you like things set up here?" Pulling out a map of the area they started pointing out different areas and instructions until Naruto stepped in.

"Hey, um, do you think there may be a way to keep a larger area open, I have a feeling a very large friend will show up."

"So who is this large friend?" the organizer asked trying to get a good feel for how much room to leave.

"Well, Gamakichi sounded like he and his brothers would like to show up and his father might be the one showing up." he informed

"Really? I've wanted to meet him. We'll need a lot of room then." Hinata stated leaving the organizer out of the loop.

"So who is it then?" he asked again wanting to know but he question was still ignored.

"So, Naruto-kun; will this area be enough?" Hinata asked pointing to an area on the map.

"That should be just fine. This way we can completely remove the usual guards to save on manpower since no one would be stupid enough to attack him." Hinata nodded and drew out on the map how things are to be set up and left the organizer with the scroll never answering his question.

* * *

The day carried on in much the same way. Hinata giving out orders and looking over the arrangements as everything started to come together. It was approaching dusk and the couple sat down in the plush chairs in the manor's common room to talk.

"So are you and the girls going to do something tonight?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, they aren't doing anything wild so it should be okay. How about you?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling it is going to be wilder than I want it to be since I know something big is going to happen."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Not sure myself, but I guess I'll find out." Just then a young panicking Hyuuga ran into the room.

"Naruto-sama, there are a bunch of guys here for you; one of them is _really_ big." The young man alerted him before taking off again. Naruto got up, with Hinata following, and sped off to the door and opened it revealing Jiraiya and most of the male ninja population.

"Hey brat, I hope you're ready for a party. I know you're going to be doing some drinking tonight." Shouted the white haired pervert. Naruto's smile fell from his face when he saw off in the distance a massive figure.

"Ah shit. Hinata-chan, did you master that medical jutsu that removes alcohol's effects from the body yet." he asked with a fearful face.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because, by the look of things, I'm going to be royally drunk when I get back. When I thought something big was going to happen, I was right. Looks like it is time to cement the summoning contract of Gamabunta and his family." Naruto was then drug off by Jiraiya for his party. Only a few minutes passed before the same happened to Hinata only much more dignified.

* * *

Hinata's party basically consisted of talking and what ever else girls do. While Naruto's consisted of every one being drunk away from civilization so even Lee could get wasted with the rest of them. Hinata returned to her room after her party with a smile. She was about to sit in a chair when she held a loud thump by the door. Running to it and throwing it open, she saw her fiancé attempting to stand after falling.

"Naruto-kun…" she stooped down to help him up but he just fell again pulling her down on top of him.

"Heysh thar perty lady. I get married morrow, can you shtay off me, my girl only for me." He slurred trying to push her away.

"Naruto, you're drunk, let me help you." she said caringly.

"No, I don't need no help from shum bimbo I need to go home I got wedding morrow."

"I am Hinata, your fiancé, now lets get you to bed I'll try to remove some of the effects of the alcohol." She pulled him up again and drug his un-cooperating body into the room and pushed him down on the bed. She did a few hand signs and held her hands over his abdomen to dissolve some of the alcohol in his blood stream. Naruto got clearer minded but was clearly still sloshed.

"Oh, I am so never drinking again. I don't know why those guys like doing this. You can't think straight let alone talk straight and who knows who or what Kiba is going to wake up next to in the morning, it is just completely stupid to do this I don't get it. Make sure you don't ever drink; I don't want you to not think straight, besides bad stuff can happen around drunken people." He said groggily holding his head. Hinata leaned down and kissed his lips and tasted the alcohol on them.

"Bleh, you taste like alcohol and you smell like it too." She told him sticking out her tongue in disgust.

"Sorry, I think a good shower might help metabolize some more alcohol with the help of Kyuubi's chakra. I'll go get clean." Naruto stood up and nearly fell trying to stumble into the shower. He returned refreshed but still had a bit of a hangover. "Hey Hinata…" Naruto saw she was asleep in the chair snoring gently. He approached her and stared at her peaceful face. "Come on gorgeous, let's grab some sleep we'll need it." He picked up her small body and carried her to their bed where he undressed her for sleep without her even waking in the least. Joining her in the bed, he grabbed her held her securely and drifted off to sleep thinking of the big day ahead.

* * *

Wedding day / Hinata's birthday Dec 27 – 018 AK:

* * *

The Hyuuga manor was bustling with activity as everyone rushed to all corners of the building taking care of the last minute details. The ruckus outside the door caused the couple to stir from their sleep.

"Hey beautiful, it's your big day today." He said as he kissed his very soon to be wife.

"You're not supposed to see me on my wedding day." She replied returning the kiss.

"As far as I'm concerned it isn't your wedding day yet, right now it's your birthday." Naruto pulled a small box from under his pillow and gave it to Hinata. "Happy Birthday Angel." She opened the small box and stared at the object.

"It's beautiful… but what is it?" she asked staring at the elegant necklace with a strange glassy white gem dangling from it.

"That would be a rare stone I found from a missing nin in Iwa when I was Rantou. I had it made into a necklace for you in Konoha; it should look perfect on you when we get married today. Now I suppose I should leave you since Hanabi and the others will be here shortly to get you dressed and they'll kill me if I'm here."

"I suppose you're right but you'll need this." Hinata pushed him on his back and ravaged his lips for a few minutes until she let him up.

"Wow that was good, um, I guess I'll see you again later. I'll be the one waiting for the most beautiful girl in the world in front of a big crowd." He gave her another short kiss and quickly got dressed in a t shirt and sweatpants and ran out the door grinning wildly. Naruto found himself in one of the gardens surrounding the manor. With a smile still plastered on his face he lay back in the lush grass and closed his eyes concentrating on the small breeze flowing through his hair. Naruto was so relaxed he didn't pay attention to the passing of time until he felt someone kick his ribs.

"Hey dobe, you have about an hour until the wedding starts, you should get ready or you'll miss it."

"Oh shit, hey Sasuke what are you doing here?" the blonde asked not paying attention to the time

"I came early to make sure you weren't an idiot and miss your own wedding." Sasuke held out his hand and lifted the blonde to his feet.

"Damn, you really have changed since I left, before you would have just left me there."

"Humph, It's your fault, now get going or Hinata will surely kill me."

"You wouldn't be the only one to die." Strangely enough that got a bit of a smile from the usually emotionless Uchiha as Naruto took off disappearing into the building. He quickly got ready and was now standing outside in the beautifully decorated grassy field behind the manor greeting some of their guests to keep his mind off of what was to come.

"Excuse me my boy, I hear you are the one taking the place of Rantou for this marriage and would like to introduce myself." Naruto had a wide smile when he turned around.

"Kenji-san!" the blonde shouted and grabbed him in a hug. "Did that womanizer Santen come with you?" The older Tsuchikage just looked at the blonde strangely trying to figure how he knew so much about them.

"Um, so you are Naruto then right?" he asked getting the blonde to let go.

"Oh, my bad… well to make a long story short half of me spent a few years with you. You knew me as Rantou and I found where my memories went." Kenji's eyes widened and looked at the similarities between the two.

"We'll need to talk later after I get my mind around this." replied the older man.

"You bet, I have a few others to meet with right now, so I'll see you later." The Tsuchikage just dumbly nodded and found a seat while more guests were seated. Naruto decided to separate himself from everyone to try to calm down a bit. Naruto was now shifting weight from one foot to the other in an isolated area of the same field when Iruka arrived.

"So Naruto, getting nervous?" asked the scarred chuunin.

"Hey Iruka-sensei. I think I am more anxious than nervous. I really want to get married to her so I can't sit still when I think about it. You still have that ring I gave you to hold on to?" Iruka felt in his pocket and retrieved the ring showing it to him. "Good, how much longer do I have to wait?"

"You are anxious, well Gamabunta and a few smaller toads just got here so we should probably get going."

"Yeah, so how did Gamabunta get here?" the blonde asked since he didn't feel anyone summon him.

"Boss summons don't need to be summoned if they have an invitation, they have the chakra to summon themselves." Naruto just nodded as the two walked to the front of the area standing next to Tsunade who was officiating the wedding.

"You ready for this brat?" the Hokage voiced looking at his mannerisms.

"You bet, you couldn't get me to walk away even if you bribed me with the position of Hokage." Tsunade just smiled at him and leaned closer.

"I don't think anything could tear you away after you see her today, they've got her looking so beautiful that she is to the point that everyone will believe you that she is the most beautiful of all the kunoichi." Naruto returned the smile; just then the music started drawing everyone's attention to the back as all eyes were now on the blushing and smiling Hyuuga heiress. She wore traditional wedding garments, little make up, and her hair was worn up with the usual strands framing her elegant face. She had the look that anyone would want, but it was the addition of the smile and blush that made her the most beautiful to him. He didn't know it at the time but his mouth was open as he watched Neji escort her to him. He saw Hinata walk up to him with her blush deepening as she reached forward and pushed his mouth shut with a quiet giggle.

Nothing else entered his mind; it was just him and her, as he just gazed in her eyes and went through the motions of placing the ring on her finger. The world phased back into his mind after finishing the very light open mouthed kiss signifying the end of the wedding. Naruto grabbed her hand as they retreated down the isle to meet all the guests. The area was set up efficiently since it only required a bunch of food to be brought out and immediately was converted into the reception.

Naruto introduced her to the few people she didn't know, which just happened to be the Tsuchikage and a bunch of toads, and Hinata introduced him to a few of the high class people the Hyuuga invited, the ones not stuck up. The reception went well, there was plenty of food seeing as how Choji was full and there was still food left. Unfortunately there weren't enough sweet deserts to go around, but the small fat toads didn't care since they already had their fill. Naruto was now sitting on a chair chatting with Kenji while Hinata was half asleep on his lap kissing his neck every so often when Jiraiya and Tsunade walked up.

"Aright brat, we found a gift for you two." Tsunade handed a key to Naruto. "Before you ask, it is the key to a small getaway house your father used for creating jutsus or if he just wanted to get away. The house is covered in jutsu to keep unwanted guests out and as such, you won't be able to use Hirashin to go to and from the house without marking it specifically. Gamabunta knows the way there so he can show you before he goes back home."

"Hey thanks that will be perfect, absolutely no interruptions, just me and Hinata." he stated with a smile.

"That's the idea, Gamakichi already brought your clothes you had packed over there so don't worry about that, just get out of here you two." The Hokage ordered as she pushed them toward the huge toad. After situating themselves on him they were at the small house in only 3 thrill filled leaps they each thanked the boss toad before he disappeared.

"Well Hinata, here we are." Without a warning, Hinata was picked up in his arms as he ran into the house locking the door behind them. They decided on quick separate showers to make sure their first time was memorable. They opened their suitcase and found nothing but a few pairs of boxers and a few pairs of panties and a small note.

_Dear Naruto and Hinata:_

_I asked my mom what to get you guys for a wedding gift and this is what she suggested. I don't understand it, but I hope you do._

The small note was just signed with a small webbed hand print.

"Well I guess it isn't all bad, we probably would have been dressed like this anyways." Hinata just blushed and nodded before grabbing a pair of lavender ones with a smile and ran to get showered, but Naruto beat her there wanting to shower first. She pouted and then smiled after she got the kiss she wanted, so she was fine with it. Naruto emerged from the bathroom in the boxers left for him while Hinata went to pass him to enter the bathroom but found herself pinned to the wall instead. His arm reached around to the back of her neck and lightly messaged it before engulfing her lips and pulled away.

"I never told you this today, but you looked amazing. I've never seen you with your hair up, it is very sexy, but looks slightly uncomfortable." He reached out and removed her hair pins and let the length flow down as he ran his fingers through it. "As sexy as it may look up, I like it better when I can touch it." He gave her another kiss and pushed her towards the bathroom for her shower.

* * *

Even though Naruto had seen her many times completely naked, he still couldn't take his eyes off her as she walked back into the room, drying her hair with a towel, completely bare chested with a hint of blush on her face. She went to pick up the towel when she dropped it and tried to hide the wince when she felt pain in her back from a sore muscle.

"Are you hurt Hinata?" he asked with concern written on his face.

"No." she lied. Naruto walked up to her and held her shoulders while looking in her eyes.

"Are you lying to me angel?" Hinata tried to not make eye contact but finally gave in.

"I thing I strained a muscle in my back. Please don't say we can't have sex because of it." She whined causing her husband to laugh.

"You are so cute when you whine like that." He told her as he kissed the tip of her nose. "But you are right; we can't have sex if you're in pain, too bad." After he said that he saw his beautiful wife almost burst into tears from that statement. Caringly he picked up her light body and carried her to the bed where he set her down face first on the bed, but she didn't stay like that for long before she rolled to her back. He gave her a quick kiss and rolled her back over, but the moment he let go she rolled back smiling up at him. He rolled her back with a little more force this time. "Now stay there before I tie you up."

"Why?" her question was answered when she felt his palms firmly press against her extreme lower back and drug them firmly up her whole back before rubbing her shoulders and dragging his finger tips back down her back to start over. She let out series of moans and groans with each pass he made before he stopped, about 15 minutes later, and leaned in to her ear.

"How are your muscles now?" he asked in a whisper.

"Much better I can barely feel it." she replied

* * *

Full Citrus Action - be warned! goes to the end of chapter.

* * *

"Good." He slowly licked the back of her ear, causing her to shiver in anticipation, and worked his way down and started to kiss down her neck to her shoulder before he rolled her over and took control of her small pink lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kept him there as she slid her tongue past his lips.

It was nearly three minutes before she let him free, but he continued for a few more seconds before parting. The break didn't last long, he lightly licked her bottom lip and kissed it before kissing down her chin to her neck where he sucked on her skin by her throat feeling it vibrate with her sounds of pleasure. He kissed down her sternum, between her breasts, before softly licking the underside of her right breast while his fingers slid across the underside of the other with light pressure.

She felt the heat rise inside her as he wiggled his tongue around her breast circling her nipple getting closer with each revolution while softly kneading the other. Before reaching her darker skin, he switched sides and started licking and kissing around her left breast while running his fingers across the dense nipple of her right. Like the other side he stopped and switched to the other where he licked the now hard nipple before latching onto it and massaging it with his tongue.

Hinata's breaths quickened as she moaned at the touch she was receiving on each breast. She screamed out when he sucked really hard on her sensitive skin, but the pain wasn't really there since she was enjoying the slight discomfort joined by the pleasure of the act. He rolled her over on top of him without letting her flesh out of his mouth. She started to giggle and laugh when she took them away from him and dangled her soft mounds in his face as he tried to catch them with his lips but was missing each time. Finally he got one and sucked very hard on it and got a whimper from her.

"Was that too hard?" he asked. She slowly nodded in affirmation before rubbing the hurt skin. "I'm sorry, I'll make it better." He took a firm grasp on her round ass and slid her to a kneeling position above his face while she pressed her breasts against the wall at the head of the bed. He slid the lavender lace to the side giving him a view of her moist slit. Sliding his tongue across the slick skin caused a load moan pass from her lips as she moved her hips bringing him to the areas she liked the attention to be placed.

A few more passes up and down her folds caused her to start shuddering before she screamed in ecstasy as his tongue slithered inside her. After catching her breath, she reluctantly removed herself from him and bent down kissing his face while she rubbed his chest lovingly. She moved down kissing his body every so often until she reached the single article of clothing. She started to massage his bulge through his boxers enticing groans from him that increased when she tried to lick and suck his manhood through the material.

Hinata decided it was enough teasing and eased him out of his shorts releasing his stiff shaft into the open. She slid her hand gently over the head and smiled when it moved in her hand as she remembered the first time touching him. She eased him slowly inside her hot mouth and started to gently suck and massage the head before bringing him further inside her and sliding it back out. When she slid it back in again she felt her panties get tugged down to her knees where she lifted one leg and he slipped them past her knee before repeating it with the other leg.

Her legs were held next as she was lifted and placed on his chest with her sensitive opening within centimeters of his warm breath. She shivered in anticipation as she felt the moist air rush across her delicate skin but shivered more as he just massaged the backs of her thighs. She was trying her best to not push herself onto his face as he was teasing her by avoiding the very spot he was staring at. Just as she was about to lose control she felt his heavenly tongue contact her moist flesh caressing each millimeter with his touch. He quickened his pace on her skin and paid special attention to her small nub causing her to wiggle helplessly. As he quickened so did she, and luckily she got her orgasm first and was through her screaming fit before his fluid streamed into her mouth and down her throat. She smiled and approached him where she kissed him fully on the lips before lazily laying her head on his chest.

"Ready for more?" she asked looking up at him.

"Kind of anxious are you?" he replied as he played with her hair.

"You aren't?" she threw back playfully

"You can't tell?" he answered with a smile. Hinata couldn't figure out what he was talking about until she saw he was still quite hard ready for more. Turning back to him they both smiled at each other.

"So can I?" she asked like a child asking for a toy.

"We are married aren't we? Just don't over do yourself." She smiled wider before throwing her leg over him straddling him as she ground her self on his stiff shaft. Feeling him so close to her she was feeling warm inside again and lifted her self up higher and reached under herself gripping him and guiding it to her opening. She rubbed herself up and down with his member before positioning it correctly and added pressure as she lowered her self. She placed more weight on it as it continued to resist the intrusion until she finally felt it slip about an inch into her. A jolt of pain shot through her body causing her to tear up.

"Please Naruto-kun, hold me so I don't move, it hurts." He nodded as he grasped her in a way to support her. She quickly ran through the hand signs and activated the numbing jutsu, having already activating the birth control one in the shower, with a single glowing finger she touched her pelvic area easing the pain away. With a small smile she pushed herself down easing the next few inches until she had half of him inside with little pain.

She took in the last half in a quick downward thrust wincing at the tolerable pain that followed. Taking a few deep breaths she lifted herself up to halfway again before thrusting herself down and felt no pain this time around. With a few more of the same motion she decided to release the jutsu since it numbs all feeling. She released it and felt a bit of pain but mostly felt exhausted from using the technique for longer than intended. She tiredly laid down pressing her breasts to his chest and rested her head on his shoulder before lightly kissing his neck and letting her legs relax putting all her weight on him.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, but I'm exhausted." She whispered in his ear.

"Do you want to stop then?"

"Not unless I have to." She told him before kissing his neck again. He brought his arms to her back and pulled her a little higher on him getting about half to slide out of her with her quietly moaning in his ear. She lifted her head up to see what he was doing but a hand came over and guided her head back to his shoulder where he stroked her hair with one hand and trailed his fingers up and down her spine with the other.

"Just relax; I can feel you tensing up. We've made it to this point; we're not going to stop." He felt her muscles relax as he stroked her ear lobe while she massaged his neck with her lips. He slowly started to move his hips pushing himself deep into her and slowly pulling back. There were only a few inches of movement but it was clearly enough to drive her wild.

She was making more noise than she had ever before from the slow sensual movement as the heat built up inside like never before. Hinata lifted her herself into the air giving him more room as his slow movements quickened and deepened. She was screaming loudly before she hit the most pleasurable moment in her life as she lightly bit down on his shoulder and bucked and moved wildly as he pushed deep for his release. She lost control of her limbs and fell hard on him with a blissful sigh.

"So how was it?" he asked her while playing with her hair again.

"Slightly awkward at first, but it was better than I imagined. How about you?"

"You felt amazing." He started out but saw she was sleeping with her lips in full contact with his neck. "You're still amazing, angel." He lightly stroked her soft cheek before running his hand down her bare back when he felt sleep take over his body and let his arm fall to his side.

* * *

...Later


	17. Chapter 17

Up From the Shadows

Chapter 17

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga Naruto; nor do I profit from using any likenesses of the characters portrayed.

Dates appear as such: 'June 18 – 015 AK – Midday' meaning the obvious the 015 is basically saying that October of that year Naruto is 15

* * *

Jan 3 – 019 AK:

* * *

The rest of the week went by with Hinata following her sensei's words. Aside from eating and sleeping the couple spent their time with each other. They found a large hot tub in the house and spent many hours in it where it became a usual spot for sexual encounters as well as nearly every other place in the small house. They took their showers together, usually with them not able to keep their hands off each other, and had the same problem with nearly everything they did. Basically they were addicted to each other and they couldn't get enough. For a married couple this addiction is very healthy, but at the end of the week, with nearly constant sex, Hinata was feeling quite sore but enjoyed every bit of how that soreness came to be. This was the day they were supposed to leave, but there was a big problem, they still had no clothes but a pair of underwear each.

Currently they were sitting, Naruto in a chair and Hinata on the floor by his feet, where he was massaging her shoulders when they head a knock at the door. Naruto let his new found common sense slip as he stood up to answer the door but realized that they weren't dressed for company when he felt Hinata jump onto his back so she could look over his shoulder and hide herself from whom ever it was. Since that was taken care of the blonde opened the door revealing Tsunade standing in the door way.

"Hey baa-chan, what are you doing here? Don't you have Hokage stuff to take care of?" Naruto asked being quite surprised.

"Well I need to talk to you two, that's why." she informed with a serious face.

"Oh, are you alone?" he asked while suspiciously looking around.

"Yes." she answered.

"Good" Naruto closed the door once she entered and returned to the chair where he set Hinata down on the floor and started his massaging again while she was blushing from being topless with the Hokage.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" the Hokage wondered from seeing their state of dress.

"No, we were supposed to return today, but Gamakichi played a prank on us by taking all our clothes but what were wearing." Naruto replied.

"That would explain your state of dress, but I probably would put too much on with that body." She said looking at Hinata

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Hinata asked while blushing hard.

"Because you're gorgeous angel. Why else would they say that?" He gently picked her up from behind and set her on his lap where she curled into him resting her head in the crook of his neck while he rubbed her bare back caringly. "So what did you want to talk to us about?" he asked the smiling Hokage who was watching the interaction between the couple.

"Oh, well it seems there have been no reports of your creatures yet, but there is a mass of energy emanating from a location we can't pinpoint for some reason, and we think it is the artifacts that were stolen. We believe it is some kind of summoning artifact that opens the way from a different dimension so this is most likely how they get here for your battle." the busty blonde informed.

"Well crap I liked having the peace and quiet with my beautiful wife. I suppose we should be going then. By any chance do you have something for Hinata to wear?" he asked

"I think I might have something, but it will be quite revealing on her. What will you wear though?"

"I have a scroll with a pair of pants and a shirt from training with Jiraiya that I can summon; I just hope they still fit." Naruto quickly summons his clothes and finds the black pants fit well, but his white t-shirt fit snugly enough to show off the defined muscles from years of training. "Well I guess they still fit, just a little small, what do you think Hinata?"

"I really like them, it shows off your hard work but I think they look better than mine." Naruto turned to her and nearly fainted on the spot. When Tsunade said what she had was revealing she never said how it was revealing. Hinata wore a simple pair of black shorts, but it was the jacket she wore that earned his reaction. "What do you think Naruto-kun?" she asked twirling around with a blush on her face. The tan jacket was simple but it was created to be left open and as such it wasn't large enough to close leaving a five inch gap barely covering her good sized chest and revealing her skin straight from her neck down to her waist since all she wore was the jacket.

"Well I think that crazy Jonin, Anko, will be jealous that you pull off her look so well." He told her as he ran a finger down her bare skin enticing some giggles from her.

"So you think I look good?" she asked with a grin.

"Gorgeous, I'd bet that the first guy that sees you, other than me, will knock themselves out from blood loss but if they look too long it might be from something other than that." He told her smiling.

"Although it is slightly revealing, I really like how it feels, I think I might wear something like this again even if it is mostly just around you." The married couple locked lips quickly before the blonde looked to the Hokage.

"Well baa-chan, if we are to return to Konoha today we need to go before I take Hinata out of these clothes again." He announced while tightly embracing his wife.

"That's settled then; I'm not waiting for you guys to do that so let's go." Tsunade led the way out of the small house, but not before Naruto left his version of the Hirashin seal so he can return easily. As they started down the trail Hinata jumped on Naruto's back wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms loosely around his neck.

"I love you." She whispered in his ear.

"Love you too angel, you comfortable?" She just made a quiet grunt before her head fell limp on his shoulder. Tsunade looked at them with a strange, questioning look on her face. "Uh, she is subtle in saying she is tired." He answered without stopping progress carrying his sleeping wife. For the next 3 hours they ran in silence until the gates of the village appeared in the horizon.

"You should probably wake up your wife now" Tsunade suggested before hearing some noise from the couple.

"She is awake… and she's sucking on my neck." Naruto wiggled and squirmed until he got away from his pouting wife.

"Hey I was having fun; it isn't like they stay there anyways." Slowly the reddened spot on his neck faded into nothingness while he was still wiping off the wetness she left.

"I don't care what you do to me behind closed doors, but we'll be in public soon and since you're the Hyuuga head now, you need to act like it in front of everyone." Naruto helped his wife stand only to lock eyes on her pouting face. "And Hyuuga heads don't pout." He moved swiftly and caught the protruding bottom lip in a deep kiss. Letting go he saw the pout was replaced with a smile.

"I suppose you're right Naruto-kun, but once we're in bed the facade is over." He just smiled at her and pulled her closer as they continued walking to Konoha with his arm around her. The couple, with Tsunade, stepped through the gates as the guards immediately fell to the ground with drool leaking from their mouths.

"Hey baa-chan, I think you should make sure to have one female guard on duty; that was way too easy." Naruto observed.

"I will definitely look into it." Replied the Hokage as she made note to reprimand the two chuunin at the gate. The three continued walking through town until they felt a powerful surge of chakra stopping them in their tracks.

"This is the energy from the shadow dimension… the dimensional rift has started early. Hinata, we need to get ready for the battle." In a billow of smoke the couple was gone. Tsunade quickly followed suit and took off to the Hokage tower to call an emergency meeting. An hour later the office was packed with all the usual high level Jonin.

* * *

"I'm sure you have all felt the chakra spike earlier today. It is our belief that this is the opening of a dimensional rift to the shadow dimension. Within the next few hours we will be sending a group to intercept whatever comes out of the rift. As much as it goes against everything I know, only Naruto and Hinata will go to fight them, this is what they have been training for over the past months. The rest of you will be strengthening the defense of the village incase something goes wrong with their battle." Announced Tsunade.

"Wouldn't it be prudent to send more than two?" inquired Shikamaru

"No, under normal circumstances it would be, but these beings will be far from normal. Naruto is the only person equipped with jutsus to combat the threat, as such it should only be him and a single person in support to avoid friendly attack. Since Hinata works well with him they are the logical choices. You are all dismissed… Naruto, Hinata, be careful." No one else said a word as the group filed out of the office leaving the Hokage, Jiraiya, and the married couple.

"You know, this isn't how it was supposed to happen, so I can't predict that we will make it out. I will assure you that none of those creatures will make it to the village." Naruto mentioned. With that the couple left silently.

"Jiraiya, go and keep an eye on them, I have a feeling something is going to go wrong, something just isn't right almost like we are living a fake life and someone is just watching from the sidelines." ordered Tsunade.

"I've been having that same feeling since the Kyuubi attack. Almost like it all wasn't supposed to happen starting from Naruto's birth, but I just thought is was my age." Jiraiya quickly left leaving Tsunade to ponder what was to come.

* * *

"Hinata, I don't like this feeling I have, something bad is going to happen. I would tell you to wait behind for me, but I know I will need you, besides, you wouldn't let me." concluded Naruto.

"You are right my love, we will do this together and come out of it together." With a smile and a hand squeeze the pair ran to meet their enemy. After a half hour of running they came upon a large flattened forest where a great number of dark beings were massing at, each walking out from the swirling void. They inched closer until they could make out the figures.

There in front of them stood a huge mass of little black beings with yellow eyes (think of those little heartless dudes from kingdom hearts). Just then three vampiric beings about a normal human's height appeared cloaked in tattered black clothing (This is a combination of multiple suggestions, so I thank you) each holding a chain that connected to a single collar around the neck of a giant beast a story high. This beast was built like an elephant with a clearly demonic looking horned head resembling that of a ram. It hind legs were almont like a buffalo while his fronts were like hands. (Search for Horned Demon on google and you'll find a creature from Might and Magic... just imagine that as a dark shadow creature.) After the beast finished emerging more of the little black creatures continued to spill out.

"Hinata, those little guys will be your target. They should be able to be destroyed, but leave the other four to me. I will start out by stopping the creatures from coming out, from that point just do some damage and destroy as many as you can." After a quick kiss Naruto leapt from the hiding spot running through hand signs ending in a strange sign.

"Dimension Door!" All attention was brought to the blonde as his own swirling void formed in front of the other making it so every creature coming through the gate would step into the other sending them back to their dimension. Shortly after landing in the clearing he was joined by his wife with Byakugan flaring.

"You are intruding in our land. Please remove yourself or we will remove you ourselves." Announced the blonde with determination.

"We… will not… leave… This… world… is now… ours." Breathed out one of the three cloak wearing beings.

"Well then lets party." Naruto led off with a handful of shuriken taking out some of the little creatures as they burst into smoke like shadow clones before dropping down and ripping through a handful of the little bastards with straight up taijutsu while Hinata did the same a few feet away. Apparently there were some of the little dudes that were much more resilient than others making it hard to dispose of them in a single punch. Having to kick it up a notch, Hinata started using chakra in her attacks while Naruto focused on some of the kyubi chakra causing his fingernails to grow into small daggers as he continued to rip though the thousands of the fodder creatures. The couple found themselves back to back while the little creatures surrounded them.

"Well I guess their idea is to tire us out with the worthless ones while they wait to finish us off." He voiced getting a grunt in agreement. "I guess we should step it up a little more." Naruto pulled out the hilt carried by Rantou and pushed the kyubi chakra into the sword producing a translucent red blade.

"When did you find out you could do that?" Hinata asked after seeing the sword using the Byakugan.

"I figured this out when you were preparing the wedding." He replied before dashing forward obliterating tens in each slash. Hinata followed him defeating the ones he missed on their charge to the leaders and their pet with a small bladed sword Naruto gave her on the anniversary of his so called death. After slashing through at least 50 more critters they finally reached where the 4 higher classed beings were located.

"Alright, you bastards are next." Without waiting for a reaction, the blonde threw three kunai at the feet of one of the vampiric humanoids and disappeared in a flash before reappearing, slashing and repeating cutting and slashing some more before coming to a rest before the creatures while it looked like nothing was damaged. "Well damn, just as I thought. These guys are ones that can't be destroyed. Hinata, keep those little shits off me while I try some stuff on these guys." He got a nod in return as he witnessed the three humanoids unhitch the leashes from the beast. "Ah crap" Naruto disappeared again in a flash but dropped out sooner than usual and came hurtling at one of the cloaked beings at a high rate of speed and landed a heavy drop kick launching it into the portal back to its dimension.

"Well that's one down." Dashing away from the enemy group he turned and saw the being that spoke earlier jump upon the huge beast while the other pulled out a scythe like object and readied an attack. "I guess I can step it up another notch." Dividing the hilt Naruto added his chakra again producing two reddened blades while Hinata was frantically beating down the hundreds of the little creatures jumping towards the blonde.

"Our… turn…" rasped the beast tamer " Darkness spear…" spikes jutted out from the beast's neck before countless black spears launched outward towards the Kyuubi vessel. Naruto was caught by surprise with the attack and quickly activated the Hirashin just to reappear in mid-slash from the scythe user. Quickly twisting in air he half heartedly deflected the slash with one blade while slashing outward with the other. Naruto landed hard right outside the portal and grabbing his shoulder sliced from the scythe. The attacker launched forward for the death blow but found nothing since his target just reappeared behind his kicking the bastard into the portal.

"That's two down." Naruto rose slowly this time as he found his Hirashin wasn't fully mastered yet and required too much chakra. With that and the large amount of chakra being used to hold the portal open and the swords, he only had enough left for one of his new dimensional attack.

That was when he saw the beast look at him while his tamer called out "Darkness Flame!" a great ball of black fire came hurtling toward him but never contacted as a dark haired girl stepped in front of him with her defense fully active gasping for breath.

"Hinata, are you ok?" he called out to her seeing her fatigued state.

"Kind of, but I can't keep this defense up for much longer. I'm drained of chakra." She replied still holding back the dark flame.

"I'm not any better, I only have enough for one dimensional attack that will send those last few back, but I need a clean shot." He took up a thinking pose and came up with many ideas but threw them all out immediately. His thoughts were halted when Hinata spoke to him.

"I can only think of one way for this to work, I will have to distract it until you can launch your jutsu." she sadly stated.

"Does your idea lead to your death like all my ideas did?" he asked in the same saddened state as the flame just kept coming.

"Um… yes, I can only hold the defense for a little longer and it will be shortened drastically as I move to cover you. I'm sorry, but this is how it must be. If I choose to live, Konoha will fall. You know full well the lives of all our friends out weigh a single life. Try not to take it too hard and live on for me." Naruto hung his head in defeat since he knew everything she said was correct but he didn't want to face the fact that his wife will no longer be there.

"I know you're right, I will try to survive, you will be known to us all as an angel." Tears fell from his face as he kissed her one last time and jumped out from behind her defense with his jutsu ready "Dimension Transfer." His jutsu flew out and contacted the remaining intruders as he heard the horrid screams of his wife when her defense fell burning her with the black flames. Naruto ran to her not even watching as the enemy was engulfed in the swirl of darkness sending them back to their realm, and fell to his knees with tears rushing from his eyes.

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you, it was always you protecting me." He couldn't look at her burnt lifeless body anymore and started to blindly slash and hack at the dimensional device until it fell to pieces closing off the portal. With the portal closed he cancelled his dimension door and returned to his dead wife. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her small frame before carefully picking her up and hugged her to him as he took off for the village. Upon arrival in the village he was greeted by the Hokage thinking everything went correctly.

* * *

"So did your battle go well? I see your wife is sleeping." Naruto looked at her with pained eyes.

"Yes, she's sleeping… permanently." He continued to carry her through the crowd until Tsunade stopped him.

"I'm sorry Naruto, you can't handle this, let me take her." Reluctantly he handed her body over. "Now go and try to collect yourself before tomorrow when we have the funeral. Please be strong for her like she was for you when you died." Naruto nodded and lifelessly walked off in no real direction.

* * *

Jan 4 – 019 AK:

* * *

Naruto was on auto pilot through the funeral. He felt nothing as everyone paid there respects and left the area until everyone was now gone except Tsunade and Sakura.

"She is gone Naruto, please realize that and grieve for her. If you don't you could destroy yourself." Sakura pulled him into a hug before leaving.

"You know Naruto she is right. With all your knowledge of the future to prevent this you still couldn't; maybe she was destined to die that day." The Hokage left him to his thoughts and disappeared.

"Destiny, maybe she really was destined to die." Tears fell once again as he pondered that statement. "Destiny? If she was destined to die then I was destined to lose to Neji, I can't accept this." Naruto dropped to his knees still crying until he lifted his head to the sky. "ASSHOLES, I MAKE MY OWN DESTINY! I CHOOSE WHAT HAPPENS IN MY LIFE, WHO ARE YOU TO SAY WHO LIVES AND DIES, HAVEN'T I SUFFERED ENOUGH?!" He laid his face into his hands and continued to cry until he felt and heard nothing. The eerie stillness was enough to pull anyone from the brink of insanity. Looking up his hands, he saw the leaves on the trees were completely motionless and saw a strange, yet familiar guy standing in front of him.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked through his watery gaze.

"Unfortunately you are in the same boat countless others have been in. We are tuned into a different reality letting us manipulate time and space. My name is Naruto, I am you 10 years in the future and I was the one that sent you the letter. Every time I change something, another parallel reality comes into existence but the result is the same. I will teach you to become a traveler like me and hopefully together we can find a solution to all this." he replied

"So you are basically me? I can buy part of it but I will not become you, you have failed where as I will change my destiny, like I have said before I write my own life. If you have all this ability why can't you stop it? Why just a cryptic letter? If there are so many realities that you have seen then there are more like you. Why can't you all fix it together?" The real Naruto asked.

"We can't, this is how it was written, and you must try from here."

"What the hell are you talking about? I lost my wife, I caused pain in everything and you say you can't change a single aspect. We beat Neji in the chuunin exams, we even changed Tsunade's mind and got her to be the Hokage when she thought is was a worthless job. We have a freaking demon stuck inside us and you say it is beyond us to save the most important thing in our lives?" The future Naruto looked at him in disbelief, suddenly the area started filling with different forms of the future Naruto. One with an eye patch and even one missing an arm. They continued to pop into existence looking at each other.

"Naruto, you are the real one. Only you have the power to change destiny. We never defeated Neji, and the Kyuubi never attacked so early in our lives. In your timeline I see that Orochimaru did something that disrupted the fabric of reality. There really should only be one timeline, but as you can see there are countless ones. We must act fast before everything collapses from all of us occupying the same area. Now that we have found the right person we can fix the events of your life sending you to your correct timeline and restoring everything to its rightful place."

"Huh?"

"Hahaha, I know it is hard to figure out just trust me you will go to a timeline different from your own, but it should have been yours from the start. Things will be different but Hinata will be alive. Do you want to go there?" asked the future Naruto.

"You don't really need to ask." With a grin from all the present forms of the future Naruto they all did hand seals simultaneously and started a strange chant.

Unravel the events that have come to pass,

Let those which were not to be done

Reverse its course to be undone

Return this mortal to his place

Where his soul longs to be

Rebind the chains of time and space

Merging us all to live in he.

"Things will be quite different when you get there, live well." With those final words the area went completely black void of any light, all that could be heard was a solid beep like a heart monitor flat lining. Suddenly a sharp beep was heard, then another until there was steady beeping and the darkness started to fade into a blinding light, but there were people here. His eyes started to focus and he saw that he was in the hospital and suddenly he felt a tight pressure wrap around him.

"Na-Naruto-kun, y-you're awake! I-I thought I l-lost y-you." Naruto was elated at finding his wife alive, but why was she stuttering? Something was off.

"Um, Hinata, what are you doing?" she blushed and removed herself from him hanging her head.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry N-Naruto-kun, I-I f-forgot y-you d-don't like h-hugs." He couldn't believe his ears, apparently things were different here, but how much different?

"Hinata, come here, I need to tell you something." She leaned a bit closer, "no closer, it's a secret." She blushed hard as she moved within an inch of him when he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her face to his locking their lips. Hinata's eyes grew wide when she felt the sudden contact but easily melted into the kiss. She was enjoying every moment, even more so when her lips parted a bit as his tongue made its way into her in exploration. Hinata let her hands wander around his chest when she felt something surprising her again. Reluctantly she broke away from the blissful kiss.

"N-Naruto-kun, is this really you? We've been betrothed since we were eight but you have always ignored my affection and then now you give me the most passionate and wonderful kiss in the world." Suddenly she yanked on his hospital gown exposing his upper torso. She lightly traced her fingers across his well defined muscles all the while blushing. "And when did you get muscles?"

"Hmm? I trained hard to get these." He replied stumped.

"But you haven't trained since you failed out of ninja academy almost 9 years ago." she informed

"That is strange… wait, what is that chakra spike I just felt?" he inquired making Hinata's face pale.

"Shit that's Yondaime-sama, your father. I think he just summoned the boss of the toad summons to fight the demon that just arrived a few moments ago, I was supposed to be at the front lines already but I came to check on you." Hinata quickly stood and put on a white cat mask and went to leave but was stopped by a very strong hand.

"Are you telling me the yellow flash, my father, is fighting the Kyuubi no Kitsune now?" Naruto asked being pleasantly surprised.

"Um, y-yes, but how did you know it was a nine tailed fox? You've been out cold for days"

"I'm coming with you." He proclaimed causing her to square her shoulders to him.

"No, you are nothing in a ninja battle, you will stay here." Naruto was shocked at the order but knew his previous self must not have been like him. Ignoring her protests Naruto bolted to the hospital closet and threw on some clothes.

"I'm going Hinata-chan; now hold on to me tight, this will be a rough landing." Hinata stood there dumbfounded as Naruto ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her and did a few hand signs and there were gone in a brilliant flash. Suddenly Hinata saw as she was falling with him down towards the giant toad and crashed upon his head next to the older blonde who was arguing with his summon.

* * *

"What do you mean I'm dead? I'm standing right here now fight the demon with me." That was when he finally noticed the intruders. "Naruto, Hinata what are you doing here?" the Hokage demanded

"Ahh, Naruto, how was your honeymoon?" called out the toad causing Hinata to rage under her Anbu mask as the two stared at the younger blonde.

"Well I can say it went well, but I think I will have to not treat Gamakichi anymore since he took all of our clothes, but I think your wife gave him the idea." They heard the loud bellows of laughter coming from Gamabunta hearing the story.

"Well it isn't like you had a need for clothes anyways… now why is the Kyuubi attacking, isn't he still sealed?" the toad asked

"Yes the seal is still intact, but only you and I know what is going on, we are in a different timeline from the one we are used to." Hinata looked at her betrothed again and removed her mask.

"What is going on? Have you been cheating on me?" she asked with pure anger.

"No angel, there was an event that screwed up the whole timeline I lived in. In my timeline I was married to you about a week ago and we had a wonderful honeymoon but you died in a battle that wasn't supposed to happen. I was distraught and to make a long story short, there is now only this timeline like there should be, and I'm not exactly the Naruto you knew, I also have more chakra then both of you combined." They were both speechless until the older blonde saw Naruto pull a special kunai from the Hokages pouch and smeared his own blood across the seal. Suddenly Naruto just hurled the kunai at the fox and smiled.

"I will take care of my old friend Kyuubi." The Yondaime recognized the jutsu and dropped his jaw as Naruto disappeared in a yellow flash.

"How the hell did he do that?" wondered the older blonde while the toad was chuckling.

"You should see what he has done with your Rasengan; he has added wind manipulation to it." Replied the laughing toad seeing the man nearly faint.

* * *

The giant 9 tailed fox demon was thrashing the country side annihilating everything in its path as it approached within eye sight of Gamabunta, Hinata and the Yondaime. The three could barely make out the form of Naruto standing in its path but heard him loud and clear and cringed at his rudeness to the demon.

"Hey you bastard Fox! Get your worthless ass out of here!"

"**I don't waste my time on weak humans like you. I want to destroy all strong beings to prove I'm the strongest. I heard this place held the most powerful fighter in the world so I came to fight."**

"So, you oversized piece of shit, you truly were absolutely evil. How would you like to fight someone more powerful than him? Fight me since I am the vessel to a powerful demon."

* * *

"Hokage-sama, is Naruto really a demon vessel?" Hinata asked.

"Our previous one wasn't, but this one I don't know." He replied as he continued to watch the encounter.

* * *

"**Really? This may be interesting then, tell me brat which demon do you hold?"**

"Since you asked so nicely, bastard, I'll tell you. He _was_ the most powerful being in existence until it was sealed inside of me after I was born, by my father, to save the village." The Yondaime gasped at this and Naruto continued, "I have sealed inside of me the greatest demon that ever existed, the KYUUBI NO KITSUNE!" a giant blast of chakra erupted from within the blonde as large tendrils of chakra formed nine tails about his body as well as the large claws, fangs, and eyes of the demon. Naruto was surprised that all the chakra from his demon came to life around him, but couldn't think on that right now.

"Now tell me, how is it to look in the mirror you murdering bastard!" he asked in a raspy voice. The Kyuubi stared into the blonde's eyes and saw his own look back, but what got to him the worst was the absence of any and all fear in his face. From his view point the young ninja was not in the least bit scared of the ultimate demon.

"**I've had enough of your lies kid, I am here so I can't be sealed, now die!"** the fox brought one of his own claws to bear and went to swipe at the shinobi and found his paw stopping inches away from him. **"What the hell? Why can't I strike you?"**

"My guess is that your chakra can't hurt me like it can't hurt you. Now I will give you the chance to leave all humans alone or be defeated by my hands."

"**Well I must admit you are as powerful as I am and I can't hurt you, but that won't keep me from killing everyone else in this village since the majority of your chakra can't hurt me as well."** The demon chuckled as he reared back to launch himself towards the village only to feel a sharp pain all over his body. He looked towards Naruto and saw his shirt burst into flames revealing the glowing seal on his stomach. **"What is this… answer me!"** screamed out the fox in pain.

"This would be the seal that holds the Kyuubi within me with the help of my chakra and my will, since you are also the Kyuubi, I can will you into the seal. Say hi to my Kyuubi when you get there, I'm sure you will have much to argue about, but don't think about escaping he can't help you there." The Kyuubi screamed louder as the seal formed on his head before he burst into a large plume of pure chakra and started filtering into Naruto's abdomen as he started to scream out, falling to his knees, as all the red chakra retreated inside his body. Before his head hit the ground he felt himself being nestled between soft flesh.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata started as she stroked his spiky hair holding his head to her chest, "In my dreams you had a hidden power and was hated by the village you loved for holding it within. I had many different dreams but none were the same, recently they have gotten more intimate. Probably the weirdest and most embarrassing thing for me was one of them Neji-nii-san walked in our bedroom and interrupted an act." Naruto gasped at the revelation before he smiled and caused her to jump when he talked to her.

"That was an embarrassing moment, but if I remember it correctly, you didn't mind it for too long." Hinata blushed at being caught telling him of one of her best kept secrets. "I have a question to ask, since you dreamt that moment, then you must have had dreamt others. So tell me, do you really not have to shave?" Hinata's now bright red face just nodded shyly.

"So all those dreams, they were your life? It was those dreams that caused me to love you deeply and longed to be married to you. Why is it that I have the person I dreamt of for so long sitting right in front of me when I thought they were only dreams?" she asked in full wonder.

"From what I can tell, your dreams are my life. Also I believe that when the jutsu was performed to bring me to a parallel timeline, your soul called out to mine and brought me to you. Your Naruto died and I took his place to heal the sorrow we both felt. We have each other again now, and I won't let you go. I want to marry you in this timeline and love you in every way you saw me love you in your dreams." She couldn't blush anymore and just decided to lightly kiss his lips.

"I would like that very much, but there are some things I'd like to try that you didn't do in my dreams." His eyebrow raised in interest.

"And what would that be?" he asked

"That, you will have to wait until we're married." She teased before taking his lips in a deep kiss ravaging him in passion before she was interrupted by the current Hokage

"Naruto, we have much to talk about, including strengthening that seal you have." informed the Yondaime

"Yes father we do, but right now I'm busy." Naruto turned around and pinned his love to the ground before starting a make out session with her accepting greedily. After they finally parted the Yondaime had returned with a camera.

"Alright you two, I need a picture of you both." Hinata smiled and removed her Anbu mask and stood next to him, immediately he held her in a light embrace and stared lovingly into her eyes, then the camera clicked. "This will make a great picture." commented the older blonde.

"I know, we've seen it before, it will look awesome, wont it Hinata-chan?" she nodded in agreement with a reddened face and the group of three walked back into the village with cheers for their heroes for defeating the great beast.

(This was the exact picture they saw in the room at the Hokage tower a while back in Chapter 13)

* * *

(Epilogue)

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" called out a young Jonin charging through the door. "You have been summoned to the hospital, your family line is about to grow right now."

"Thank you Konohamaru" the Hokage quickly left the tower and arrived at the hospital in the midst of the commotion.

"Hokage-sama, get you ass in there!" screamed a pink haired medic as she pushed the blonde into the hospital room where a large breasted woman was currently positioned at the business end of the dark haired woman. (Ha-ha business end…)

"Hinata, I'm here." He said as he took her hand.

"Naruto-kun, I thought you were going to miss it."

"Come on angel, I'm the Hokage, I don't miss important events." Hinata gave a slight smile before she nearly crushed his hand. A few moments later crying was heard as a blonde haired boy was brought to his parents wrapped in cloth. "He's beautiful Hinata, maybe he should have a sister to grow up with." Hinata smiled back at her husband and looked at their child.

"I agree, but don't bring that up again until I'm not in pain or I'll kill you." She kindly told him. He wasn't scared, on the surface, and lightly kissed her forehead.

"I won't, now get some sleep; you will have plenty of time with our son after you wake." With a weak nod she fell asleep dreaming of the future; for the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

* * *

...Later


End file.
